UA Reports Alabama Business Confidence Continues to Rebound

Alabama Business Confidence Index™

First Quarter 2021

Alabama’s business confidence is continuing to rebound according to the first quarter 2021 ABCI.
Business confidence broken down by industry, firm size, and the state’s four largest metro areas is now available for Q1 2021. For the second consecutive quarter, all of the statewide component indexes were above 50, indicating sustained expectations for growth as businesses navigate COVID-19.
You can view past and current reports by clicking on the buttons above or following this link: https://cber.culverhouse.ua.edu/alabama-business-confidence-index/.

Mobile Component Index Analysis

  • Alabama Economy: Metro panelists remain conservative in their forecasts for Alabama’s economic outlook, with a neutral index of 50.0. This indicates expectations for a continuation of the previous quarter’s statewide conditions.
  • US Economy: This quarter, Mobile business leaders are anticipating a slight worsening compared to the fourth quarter’s national economic conditions. The index registered at a slightly negative 48.3 after decreasing 3.0 points.
  • Industry Sales: The metro sales index is the highest index for the quarter at a strongly positive 63.3 after increasing 13.3 points from Q4 2020. This indicates strong confidence in increased sales compared to the previous quarter.
  • Industry Profits: Area business leaders expressed moderate confidence in increased profits this quarter. The index increased 3.7 points to register at 55.0 for Q1 2021.
  • Industry Hiring: Hiring is forecast to surpass the Q4 2020 levels with a strongly confident index of 60.0, a 6.1-point increase from the previous quarter.
  • Industry Capital Expenditures: This quarter, metro business leaders forecast an increase in capital expenditure compared to Q4 2020 with a mildly positive index of 53.3. This is an 8.6-point increase from the previous quarter’s mildly negative outlook.

 
This report has been provided by The ABCI  an initiative of the Center for Business and Economic Research located in the Culverhouse College of Business, The University of Alabama. 

 

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