Five-plus years after the end of the recession, Connecticut’s economy remains in a pattern of slow growth, according to a survey released today by the Connecticut Business Industry Association and Farmington Bank.
“Overall, businesses see conditions continuing as stable, with hiring slowly on the mend, a slight increase in capital investments, and improving credit availability,” CBIA economist Pete Gioia said.
The 2015 CBIA/Farmington Bank 2nd Quarter Economic and Credit Availability Survey found a little more than half (52 percent) of surveyed business leaders see their firm’s outlook as stable while 34 percent forecast improvement, and 18 percent expect worsening conditions.
Those findings mimic the results from the first quarter, when 51 percent saw stable conditions, 37 percent expected growth, and 11 percent expected a decline.
Employment
Attitudes toward increased hiring dampened with about two-thirds (67 percent) of respondents stating the size of their workforce will remain unchanged (compared with 58 percent in the previous quarter), with 23 percent expecting to add employees in the near term (versus 28 percent in the first quarter).
However, 10 percent of respondents said they expected to cut the size of their workforce, compared with 14 percent the previous quarter.
Investment
According to the survey, 59 percent of respondents plan on making capital investments, primarily in production or sales, compared with 56 percent in the first quarter, when investment priorities were shared across production, operations, and technology.
“These results reinforce that Connecticut’s experiencing a slow growth economy,” Gioia said.
Finding new customers was the dominant concern for businesses (31 percent) during the quarter, while 21 percent listed a shortage in skilled workers, followed by taxes (20 percent).
Other survey findings:
- 51 percent say China’s stock market correction will have a negative impact on their business.
- 47 percent anticipate problems stemming from the Greek fiscal crisis, 39 percent from Puerto Rico’s financial issues, and 38 percent from Congress’ failure to re-authorize the Export-Import Bank.
- 51 percent said the state’s lending climate was average, with 28 percent calling it good or excellent.
- 80 percent were able to address their borrowing needs during the quarter.
“The state”™s credit environment continues to improve, and companies can plan on lending institutions being ready to help when the time comes,” said John Patrick Jr., CEO and president of Farmington Bank.
The survey was sponsored by Farmington Bank; Datacore Partners LLC; and CBIA and was emailed to 1,585 Connecticut business leaders in July. A total of 203 responded, for a 12.8 percent response rate and a margin of error of plus or minus 7 percent.
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