Equipment finance market confidence up to index of 61.7

Tina Grady Barbaccia

89.5 percent of the leadership evaluates the current U.S. economy as “fair,” down from 91.2 percent last month. 10.5 percent rate it as “poor,” up from 8.8 percent in February.

31.6 percent of survey respondents believe that U.S. economic conditions will get “better” over the next six months, up from 26.5 percent in February. 63.2 percent of survey respondents indicate they believe the U.S. economy will “stay the same” over the next six months, down from 70.6 percent in February. 5.3 percent responded that they believe economic conditions in the U.S. will worsen during the next six months, an increase from 2.9 percent who believed so last month.

In March, 28.9 percent of respondents indicate they believe their company will increase spending on business development activities during the next six months, up from 26.5 percent in February. 71.1 percent believe there will be “no change” in business development spending, down from 73.5 percent last month, and no one believes there will be a decrease in spending, unchanged from last month.