Minnesota Business Firms Expect Unchanged Conditions for 2019
September 7, 2018
Firms point to stability in the state’s overall economy
ST. PAUL – Minnesota business services firms feel positive about the economy, with nearly 90 percent expecting sales revenue to increase or remain stable next year, according to a joint survey released today by the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) and the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis.
Business services firms are less optimistic, however, that productivity and employment levels will grow or remain stable in 2019. Sixty-eight percent expect their supply of workers to remain stable. That’s down from 77 percent last year. Only 7 percent of respondents anticipate labor availability to grow next year.
The results were based on a random sample of 1,200 Minnesota business services firms in May and June.
“Business services firms such as accounting, public relations and technology firms, interact with much of the state’s overall economy,” said DEED Commissioner Shawntera Hardy. “The fact that that these businesses expect stable conditions in the next year is an encouraging sign.”