10 Worcester Business Journal | December 29, 2025 | wbjournal.com
F
or the first time since 2020, the majority of Central
Massachusetts business leaders who responded to WBJ's
annual Economic Forecast survey said the region's
economy is in worse condition than it was at this time
the previous year.
Despite this overall sentiment, the plurality said they antic-
ipate the local economy will improve in 2026. Compared to
previous years, the percentage of those who said the economy
will improve slightly or significantly in the next year (44%) is at
its lowest point since 2022, but those optimistic about next year
outnumber those who say the economy will decline in 2026. e
state's premier business forecast survey, the Business Confidence
Index from the Associated Industries of Massachusetts, has been
firmly in pessimistic territory for the last nine months of 2025,
so any level of optimism from WBJ's readers is outpacing the
overall state sentiment.
Because of their hesitancy about the economy, the majority of
WBJ respondents said next year they aren't planning on hiring
additional staff (62%) and aren't planning on making a major
capital investment (55%).
WBJ 2026 Economic Forecast survey was conducted from
Dec. 3-17.
– Brad Kane, editor
Anticipating improvement
How will the economy fare next year, as compared to this year?
Economic Forecast 2026: WBJ Reader Survey
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
2023 2022 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016
Improve significantly
Improve slightly
Remain the same
Decline slightly
Decline significantly
0
2024
2025
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NA
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