The Equipment Leasing & Finance Foundation released the May 2019 Monthly Confidence Index for the Equipment Finance Industry, reporting an improvement in May to 59.2, up from the April index of 58.3.
When asked to assess business conditions over the next four months, 16.1 percent of executives responding said they believe business conditions will improve, up from 13.3 percent in April. Nearly 67.7 percent of respondents believe business conditions will remain the same over the next four months, a decrease from 76.7 percent. About 16.1 percent believe conditions will worsen.
Of the respondents, 16.1 percent believe demand for leases and loans to fund capital expenditures will increase over the next four months.
When asked, 41.9 percent of executives report they expect to hire more employees over the next four months, a decrease from 46.7 percent in April.
Nearly 51.6 percent of the leadership evaluate the current U.S. economy as “excellent” up from 40 percent in April. 48.4 percent of the leadership evaluate it as “fair” a decrease from 60 percent. None evaluate it as “poor.”
In May, 35.5 percent of respondents indicate they believe their company will increase spending on business development activities during the next six months.
Source: ELFF
