Newest AIM Knowledge Reveals Enterprise Confidence Index at 55.4
Massachusetts employers closed out 2024 a bit extra optimistic about their financial outlook than on the finish of 2023, although they raised some considerations within the course of in regards to the tempo of future rate of interest cuts and the state’s competitiveness.
Related Industries of Massachusetts reported Monday that its enterprise confidence index stood at 55.4 in December, practically 5 and a half factors above the 50-point line that divides pessimistic and optimistic territory. That year-end rating was 2.8 factors larger than in December 2023.
“The constant optimism of employers in Massachusetts displays the truth that the financial enlargement stays on strong footing. Following the November election, companies are extra assured that federal tax coverage will stay supportive of funding,” AIM Board of Financial Advisors Chair Sara Johnson mentioned. “Nonetheless, corporations signaled warning about growing employment. There may be additionally warning in regards to the aggressive place of Massachusetts, with the state index trailing the US index for 4 months.”
AIM’s index, which is calculated based mostly on a survey of greater than 140 Bay State employers, dropped 2.3 factors from November to December. Over the course of 2024, it fluctuated as little as 49.8 and as excessive as 57.7.
The nationwide index fell barely from 57.4 in November to 55.8 in December, a 1.6-point drop, based on AIM.
AIM President Brooke Thomson praised Massachusetts lawmakers for finishing a set of laws earlier than they wrapped up the 2023-2024 session, together with a last-minute compromise overhauling hospital oversight.
“That measure got here on high of a multi-billion-[dollar] housing bond invoice, a complete vitality siting invoice, a wage-transparency invoice and a $3.9 billion economic-development measure — all of which added as much as a major 12 months for the Massachusetts financial system,” Thomson mentioned.
