Local business confidence index plummets

An index that tracks business confidence in Massachusetts fell to an all-time low in December as businesses fretted about a severe and protracted downturn, the Associated Industries of Massachusetts said today.

The group, which represents Massachusetts employers and refers to itself as AIM, has used the index to track confidence since the early 1990s.

The December reading for the index was 36.3, down 5.5 points from November and down 17.2 points from December 2007, said AIM, which provided the graph that appears above this post.

"These are the worst results we have seen in the 17-year history of the AIM Index, because this is the worst economy in much longer than that," Raymond G. Torto, global chief economist at CB Richard Ellis Group Inc. and chair of AIM's Board of Economic Advisors, said in a statement. "Conditions within Massachusetts are not as bad at this point as they were in 1991-92, but in a larger context, the national and global economic crisis is unprecedented in the post-World War II era.”

AIM's index is based on a 100-point scale, with 50 representing neutral; a reading above 50 represents optimism among Massachusetts employers, a reading below 50 represents pessimism. The index's previous lows were 41.4 in October 2008 and 41.5 in December 1991, AIM said.

To read AIM's press release on index, please click here.
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)