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According to Associated Industries of Massachusetts, business confidence is increasing in Massachusetts.
After a slight dip in June, AIM’s Business Confidence Index gained 2.2 points to 52.0 in July. The reading was 0.5 points less than a year ago and slightly above the 50 mark that separates negative and positive outlooks.
Sara Johnson, Chair of the AIM Board of Economic Advisors, which oversees the index, believes that employers and consumers alike are taking a wait-and-see attitude as the Federal Reserve prepares to lower interest rates.
“The Fed kept interest rates at a two-decade high last week, while leaving the door open for rate cuts as soon as its next meeting in September.” Johnson said. “Its policy statement noted that the economic outlook is uncertain, presenting risks to both its employment and inflation goals.”
While confidence rose statewide, the North Shore Confidence Index, conducted with the North Shore Chamber of Commerce, dipped into “pessimistic territory” at 48.0. Large companies (54.7) were also more optimistic than medium-sized companies (51.3) or small companies (50.6).
AIM also believes that recent legislation regarding affordable housing will help the business community. With costs continuing to rise, the organization believes that the Affordable Homes Act will help keep talented employees in the commonwealth.
“The Affordable Homes Act passed by the Legislature represents a significant step towards addressing the Commonwealth’s housing crisis. The bill provides much needed investments and implements key policy changes without imposing any anticompetitive policies,” AIM President and CEO Brooke Thomson said.
“This historic investment will help to reduce the prohibitive cost of housing in the state and help to ensure that the people who work for Massachusetts businesses can also live here. We have a supply problem, and the only solution is to build our way out and provide access to thousands of new homes for our workers.”
The Affordable Homes Act is a $5.16 billionpackage of spending and policy that the Healey administration says represents the largest proposed investment in housing in the state’s history. The multi-pronged approach includes $2 billion for public housing projects, allows the construction of accessory dwelling units up to 900 square feet in all 351 communities, and also the creation of a $50 million momentum fund that the Massachusetts Housing Finance Agency will allocate to help housing developers with approved projects complete financing packages.
