Seventy percent of middle market business leaders said the outlook for their companies over the next 12 months is very good or excellent — a decline of eight percentage points since September. Confidence in the overall U.S. economy dropped even more sharply, from 61% characterizing the outlook as excellent or very good in September to only 47% at year-end.
Between the third and fourth quarters of 2022, company outlook decreased most sharply among middle market business owners and executives in the construction (87% to 78%) and manufacturing (79% to 73%) industries. Geographically, the West region experienced a 17-point drop in positive company outlook, from 83% to 66%. And in terms of company size, optimism is waning the most at companies with revenues between $10 and $250 million: Just over two-thirds (68%) of these business leaders report an excellent or very good outlook for their company’s…
