Business Executives Have

Cautious Outlook For 2001

HARTFORD (AP) — Business executives are being cautious about Connecticut’s – and their own companies’ – likely performances in 2001, according to the latest quarterly economic survey by the Connecticut Business and Industry Association.

Executives are more optimistic about how their businesses will do than about the state’s performance in the coming year, the survey found. About half of the executives surveyed said they expect Connecticut’s economic performance to remain stable, while 16 percent said they expect it to improve and 32 percent said they expect it to worsen.

When it came to their own companies, 51 percent of the executives said they expect to do better in 2001, 32 percent expect stability, and 16 percent anticipate their performance will decline, the survey found.

“The outlook for the new year is the most sobering we’ve seen in quite some time,” said CBIA economist Peter Gioia. “Yet, despite the newfound caution, there is positive news regarding exports and continued anticipated growth in production and sales.”

Mr Gioia said these results are “consistent with the views of most economy-watchers, who see slower but continued growth in 2001.”

The CBIA survey had 342 respondents, for a 17.1 percent response rate and a margin of error of plus or minus 5 percentage points.