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Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences
St. Cloud Area Quarterly Business Report, Vol. 25, No. 4, King Banaian, Mana Komai Molle
St. Cloud Area Quarterly Business Report, Vol. 25, No. 4, King Banaian, Mana Komai Molle
St. Cloud Area Quarterly Business Report
Businesses reported worsening economic conditions in the last three months of 2023, but expressed optimism for the first half of 2024. Over the year on a seasonal basis, only 135 jobs (0.1%) were added to the economy. Four of six regional economic indicators pointed down. Only 60% of businesses surveyed reported the same operating hours as they had had in 2020; half of the remaining 40% said their hours were more flexible, while the other half decreased hours of operation. They also said one third of customers now had higher expectations of firm performance than 2020. Improvements in speed and …
St. Cloud Area Quarterly Business Report, Vol. 25, No. 3, King Banaian, Mana Komai Molle
St. Cloud Area Quarterly Business Report, Vol. 25, No. 3, King Banaian, Mana Komai Molle
St. Cloud Area Quarterly Business Report
Business leaders reported stronger local results in the last St. Cloud Quarterly Business Survey. 31% said their business activity expanded over the summer, while 24% said it had declined. Hiring improved, with continuing strength in wages paid, capital spending and prices received for products. The future outlook is much murkier, with 41% saying their business activity would expand over the next six months while 28% it would decline. Four of the six elements of the St. Cloud Index of Leading Economic Indicators rose in the May-July 2023 period while two others declined. Two special questions determined that employers think their …
St. Cloud Area Quarterly Business Report, Vol. 25, No. 2, King Banaian, Mana Komai Molle
St. Cloud Area Quarterly Business Report, Vol. 25, No. 2, King Banaian, Mana Komai Molle
St. Cloud Area Quarterly Business Report
This report found confirmation from area business leaders that a recession is at hand. 68% of our respondents thought a recession was coming when surveyed in December 2022 and still believe so six months later. Survey respondents were concerned about financial tightening resulting from disruptions in the banking industry, but very few have changed banks, and most did not see those disruptions as a significant factor in bringing about a recession.
St. Cloud Area Quarterly Business Report, Vol. 25, No. 1, King Banaian, Mana Komai
St. Cloud Area Quarterly Business Report, Vol. 25, No. 1, King Banaian, Mana Komai
St. Cloud Area Quarterly Business Report
The St. Cloud Area recession that we predicted in last quarter’s review had not started in the first quarter of 2023. The St. Cloud Area Quarterly Business Survey showed fewer respondents reporting a decrease in their own business activity over the last three months, and more were positive about the next six months, than had responded in November 2022. The St. Cloud Index of Leading Economic Indicators ticked up slightly in the last quarter, with only 3 of 6 indicators contributing positively to the index. In special questions, one-third of respondents said job turnover in 2022 was greater than in …