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Employer Confidence In Massachusetts Keeps Falling

BOSTON (CBS) - Massachusetts employers are more pessimistic than they were a month ago, and most expect a weak, prolonged recovery, according to a trade group's monthly business confidence survey.

Associated Industries of Massachusetts released its employer confidence survey results for September, Tuesday, showing Bay State employers hopes fell for the fourth time in five months.

The confidence index, based on a survey of 140 employers, put their confidence level in negative territory, at 48.4 on a scale of 100.

Massachusetts employers said the current situation is likely to continue for about six months, the trade group reported, noting that means they do not expect the economy to deteriorate further.

Political deadlock in the U.S. and Europe was cited as a reason for the pessimism.

Lisa van der Pool of the Boston Business Journal reports

Some more highlights from the survey:

* Massachusetts employers rate current in-state conditions negatively, but believe Massachusetts is doing better than the rest of the nation. Employers also expect in-state conditions to improve sooner than the rest of the nation.

* Employers are less confident than they were in August about their own firms' operations, with that index falling 1.4 points to 53.5.

* The September confidence reading was up eight-tenths of a point from a year earlier.

Read the complete report here.

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