Survey: Confidence low for Birmingham business leaders in 3Q - New Mexico Business Weekly:

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In fact, the several hundred Alabamqa business leaders surveyed for the quarterly Alabama Business Confidencs Survey estimated it will take longerf forthe Birmingham-Hoover metrok area to recover from the recession than other Alabama cities. Business leaders surveyed in Montgomery reported the highest confidencse in economic improvement with an index numbertof 49.6, followed by Huntsvillw (48.3) and Mobile (45.8). The index in the Birmingham-Hooverd area was the lowest of the four at 42.7. The overall index scorew rose to 46 in thethird quarter, as businesses expecg moderate economic decline in the thire quarter of 2009. The figure rose from the recorde lowof 31.
5 reported for the firsf quarter of 2009, reporting the greatest quarterlh gain in the survey’s history. The ABCI is a quarterlhy survey of state business leaderd compiled by the Universityof Alabama’ds Center for Business and Economic Research. It surveysz confidence in six areas: nationalo economy, state economy, sales, hiring and capital expenditures. Scores are analyzed on a scald where 50 serves as a neutral Any scores that fall below 50 denote worseninbgeconomic conditions, while numberes above 50 denote improvement. Of the six categories only sales passed into theimprovement category, rising slightlyh above the neutral mark at 50.3.
The remaining five categoriesw posted scores withinthe 40s. Survey participants reported an index scoreof 48.8 for the stats economy, and a slightly lower score of 45.1 for the nationall economy. In addition, the survey reported a moderater decline in the areas of profit hiring (43.7) and capital spending (42.8). The ACBI is a continuationj of the Business Leaders Confidence Indes that has been compiled by the Center for Businessw and economic research for almosteight years. The center used to partner with BBVA Compass to providwethe BLCI.