Hartford Business Journal

Economic Survey 10 Hartford Business Journal • decemBer 26, 2016 www.HartfordBusiness.com BOOK OF LISTS & ECONOMIC FORECAST 2016-2017 H artford Business Journal readers are slightly more optimistic about 2017 than they were about 2016, but a majority still believe Connecticut's economy will stagnate or even decline next year. About 36.4 percent of readers expect Connecticut's economy to grow slightly or significantly in 2017, while 63.5 percent expect no growth or declining conditions in the state. Meantime, 32.3 percent of readers said they plan to hire staff in 2017, while only 16 percent expect to raise capital. Those were some of the major findings in Hartford Business Journal's 2017 economic outlook survey, which are featured in the next few pages. The survey was emailed to more than 11,000 HBJ Today subscribers. The unscientific results were gathered over a three-week period in November and garnered 316 respon- dents. The survey provides a window into how the region's economy will likely perform in 2017, and the results actu- ally closely mirror many of the economic forecasts pro- vided by economists and business executives featured in this publication. Here are the full survey results: Improve significantly Improve slightly Remain the same Decline slightly Decline significantly 0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40% How will Connecticut's economy fare in 2017 compared to 2016? Do you think Greater Hartford's economy is in better or worse condition today than it was at this time last year? By what percentage do you expect your employee base to grow in 2017? Do you plan to hire additional staff in 2017? Do you have plans to expand in 2017? 6.9% 29.2% 27.4% 34.0% 2.5% Not sure 21.2% Better 23.1% Worse 55.7% Too soon to tell/ I don't know 21.5% Yes 32.3% No 46.2% 1. 2. 4. 3. 5. No 54.7% Yes, with new product lines 13% Yes, with a combination of some or all of the above 17.4% Yes, with expansion into new geographic territories 11.1% Yes, with new or expanded facilities 3.8% 5.5% to 10% 8.3% No growth 46.2% 0.1% to 5% 36.6% Negative growth 6.4% 10.5% or more 2.5% SURVEY

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