Colorado business leaders have a more optimistic outlook going into the second quarter of this year.That’s according to the University of Colorado’s Leeds Business Confidence Index.Survey author, Richard Wobbekind says this quarter business leaders are the most confident they’ve been since before the recession in 2004.
Just from the first quarter in 2012 to the second, the index has jumped from 54.5 to 62.2. A reading of 50 is neutral. Higher numbers indicated positive expectations, while readings lower than 50 indicate negative expectations.
“Colorado business people always seem to be a bit more optimistic about Colorado, but this time their optimism is very strong. And again that’s because they see what’s going on around them. They’ve seen some good employment gains and they’re obviously seeing more sales occurring within the state,” he says.
Wobbekind says the increased optimism could lead to more jobs.
“We are getting an indication from our confidence survey that we are going to see hiring be stable or picking up even over the next couple of quarters in Colorado and of course that would be welcomed by all of us,” he says.
The survey also found that business leaders expect sales and profits to be up this quarter. And more than half say they expect Colorado employees will receive raises of up to 4 percent in 2012.
