The University of Alabama’s Culverhouse College of Commerce conducted a survey that shows business confidence for the state of Alabama went up 2.5 points to reach 65.2 in the second quarter of 2017. This is a 10 year high for the Alabama Business Confidence Index! Business leaders in Alabama are expecting rising sales, profits, hiring and capital spending to continue to rise. They are most confident in forecasting increased sales.

The survey panelists had high confidence for businesses in the Wholesale Trade category and especially businesses in the “All Other Services” category. The “All Other Services” category includes professionals in Recreation and Accommodation, Education and the Arts.  The Confidence Index for the Finance/Insurance/ & Real Estate category and the Construction category were also up significantly.

Almost 70% of the panelists forecast continued growth in Alabama’s economy for the next quarter. All three levels of businesses: small (under 20 employees), mid-sized (20 to 99 employees) and large (greater than 100 employees), also have a high level of confidence in the U.S. economy.

Information for this article comes from:

http://cber.cba.ua.edu/abci/results/ABCI-Q2-2017.pdf and The Birmingham Business Journal 4/4/17