Vermont Business Round Table/EPR Fourth Quarter Business Conditions Survey Released (Nov. 2018)

Lisa Ventriss President of Vermont Business Roundtable (VBR) and Jeffrey Carr President Economic & Policy Resources (EPR) announced the Q4 of 2018 outlook results of their joint initiative the VBR/EPR Business Conditions Survey and Index. The latest survey which was conducted during October and November of 2018 achieved a response rate of 65 percent overall.

More than 80 percent of respondents shared negative outlooks specifically with ease of hiring for available positions (83%); an increase from the previous survey (77%). A majority of respondents expressed a neutral outlook about the state’s overall business climate (57%); a decrease from the previous survey (53%). However expected demand for the next three months was improved over the previous quarter among a slight majority (51%).  When asked “Are you more or less optimistic about the general business climate in your sector compared to three months ago?” the responses were largely neutral. However the Finance and Insurance sector expressed the most optimism (54%) while the Education sector had the most pessimistic outlook (50%).

The next survey will be conducted in January 2019.