Worcester Business Journal

10 Worcester Business Journal | June 26, 2023 | wbjournal.com A t the end of 2022, WBJ readers were more pessimistic about the future of the Central Massachusetts economy than they had been at any point in the previous 10 years. In WBJ's annual year-end Economic Forecast Survey of its readers, 37% said the economy would either decline slightly or decline significantly in 2023. e first five months of this year only made WBJ readers more pessimistic. Because of the number of large economic events that happened to start 2023 – bank failures, residential real estate hitting a hard stop, the still-looming recession amid a strong labor market in a growing economy – WBJ decided to conduct a Midyear Economic Survey of its readers to update their thoughts about 2023. is time, nearly 50% of the 115 respondents in the May/June survey said the economy would either decline slightly or decline significantly by the end of the year. See the full results from the survey on pages 10-19. Despite these rough overall feelings, readers weren't all doom and gloom. Nearly 80% said the economy performed at or above their expectations for the year so far. e national bank failures didn't really impact them or their confidence in the U.S. financial system. e labor market remains strong. e performance of their individual businesses is largely either at or above expectations. eir long-term outlook for the region's business community remains optimistic, particularly as it relates to new real estate developments, the life sciences industry, and the Worcester Regional Airport. People weren't feeling great about the economy heading into 2023, and the events so far this year made them feel worse. Still, long-term optimism abounds. - Brad Kane, editor May/June response December response* How will the economy fare in the second half of 2023 compared to the first half? Improve slightly 22% 2% 4% Improve significantly Improve slightly 38% Remain the same 28% Remain the same 21% Decline slightly 42% Decline slightly 29% Decline significantly 6% Decline significantly 8% Compared to your expectations at the start of the year, how do you think the Central Massachusetts economy performed in the first four months of 2023? Much better 4% Better 31% The same 47% Worse 18% IMAGE | ADOBESTOCK.COM 2023 Rough start FOCUS M I DY E A R E C O N O M I C U P DAT E Sponsored by In survey, WBJ readers reveal increasing pessimism for 2023 *The exact phrasing of the question asked in December was "How will the economy fare next year compared to this year?"

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