PULLMAN – Business conditions in the Seattle area improved slightly in the third quarter with a majority of executives reporting an increase in sales and hiring.
More executives reported hiring new employees during the third quarter than at any other time in 2010, according to a survey conducted by the WSU School of Economics Sciences’ IMPACT Center and the Seattle Business Executives Association. The number of executives reporting that sales had increased during the third quarter also rose.
“Overall, key indices show more optimism than there has been for over a year,” said Andrew Cassey of the WSU SES. He noted that the upturn expressed by the executives began in the first quarter of 2009 and “accelerated most rapidly during 2010.”
Uncertainty about the economy continued to be the No. 1 concern of those surveyed, followed by health care expenses, domestic competition and government regulation.
The business executives also said that the recession that began in 2007 didn’t decrease opportunities for innovation in their specific area of business. But they noted that uncertainty about the economy is causing them to delay or bypass those opportunities; instead, they are increasing cash reserves.
In a related question, most of those surveyed said they would pursue new innovations once the economy improves.
Complete survey results are available at www.impact.wsu.edu/survey/EconomicOutlook.html.