November 20, 2012
NJBIA 2013 Business
Outlook Survey: NJ Business Confidence Climbs to Highest
Levels of the Past Five Years
Sales, employment and profits at New
Jersey businesses improved for a third consecutive year in
2012, reaching the highest levels of the past five years,
and the business outlook calls for continued improvement in
the year ahead, NJBIA said today in releasing the findings
of its 2013 Business Outlook Survey.
Notably, 19 percent of businesses responding to the annual
fall survey anticipate hiring more workers in 2013, while
only 11 percent expect to make workforce reductions. The net
percentage of companies anticipating the need to hire
additional workers is therefore 8 percent, the highest level
of the past five years.
Survey participants also expressed more confidence in New
Jersey as a place for business expansion. And they viewed
New Jersey more favorably, when compared to other states, in
areas where it once fared poorly, such as its attitude
toward business, controlling government spending and its
ability to attract new business.
“The findings of this year’s survey are encouraging,” said
NJBIA President Philip Kirschner, who presented the findings
in a news conference at the Association’s Trenton
headquarters. “Business is picking up, business confidence
is rising, and growing numbers of businesses believe New
Jersey is on the right track.”
The fall survey, now in its 54th year, is the oldest and
most reliable indicator of current and future business
conditions in New Jersey. A total of 1,470 companies from
every major industry in all 21 counties participated in the
survey, which was conducted in September. Most respondents
were small companies with between 1 and 49 employees.
Kirschner said the damage done by Superstorm Sandy, which
occurred one month after the survey was conducted, could
affect economic conditions in the short term. However,
he said the survey is a result of a strengthening of
business conditions, a stronger business climate and more
solid economic fundamentals that will continue in 2013 and
help the state recover from the storm.
Among other key survey findings:
Asked to rate the performance of government leaders,
businesses gave Governor Chris Christie high marks for the
third year in a row, with 73 percent saying he is doing a
good-to-excellent job. This is statistically unchanged from
the 74 percent giving the Governor high marks in the two
previous surveys. The Legislature maintained its improved
ratings, with 26 percent saying the Legislature is doing a
good-to-excellent job; 50 percent, a fair job; and 24
percent, a poor job.
New Jersey continued to make steady improvement in the eyes
of business as a place for business expansion. Twenty-two
percent of respondents said the state is a good or very good
place in which to expand their business facilities, up from
18 percent last year and a long-term low of 9 percent the
year before that.
The survey’s indicator for current sales activity moved into
positive territory for the first time in five years.
Forty-one percent of companies reported higher sales
revenues in 2012 and 35 percent reported lower sales
revenues.
The sales outlook for 2013 has also improved markedly.
Forty-nine percent of respondents anticipate higher sales
revenues in 2013 and 17 percent anticipate lower sales,
while the rest expect little or no change. The net
percentage of companies anticipating higher sales is
therefore 32 percent.
The outlook of individual companies for spending and profits
has likewise improved, as shown on the table Outlook of
Individual Companies. A net 19 percent of businesses
surveyed expect to increase spending next year, and a net 23
percent expect profits to increase.
The business outlook for the New Jersey economy has also
improved and is now positive for the first time in eight
years, with 29 percent expecting state economic conditions
to improve in the first six months of 2013, 25 percent
expecting them to deteriorate, and the rest expecting little
or no change.
When asked how they expect their own industries to perform
in the first six months of 2013, 29 percent said they expect
conditions to improve and 26 percent said expect conditions
to deteriorate, with the rest expecting conditions to stay
about the same. This leaves a net positive outlook of 3
percent for companies’ own industries, the highest level of
the past three years.
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