About one third of mid-sized firms in the geographic footprint of M&T Bank (NYSE: MTB) expect to add workers over the next six months. That’s according to the results of M&T Bank’s Q3 2013 economic-outlook survey that the bank released Sept. 10. The 33 percent of respondents represents the highest figure on that question in […]
About one third of mid-sized firms in the geographic footprint of M&T Bank (NYSE: MTB) expect to add workers over the next six months.
That’s according to the results of M&T Bank’s Q3 2013 economic-outlook survey that the bank released Sept. 10.
The 33 percent of respondents represents the highest figure on that question in the four years M&T Bank has conducted the survey.
The figure compares to the 29 percent reading on the same question from the Q3 survey in 2009, says M&T Bank regional economist Gary Keith, who conducted the study.
M&T Bancorp, the parent company of M&T Bank, has $83 billion in assets and operates more than 725 branch offices throughout New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware, Virginia, West Virginia, New Jersey, Florida, Washington, D.C., and the Canadian province of Ontario.
M&T Bank ranked first in deposit market share in the 16-county Central New York region, with $4.8 billion in deposits and a 19 percent market share, according to June 30, 2012, statistics from the FDIC, the latest statistics available.
Survey
The 33 percent of survey respondents that expect to add workers in the next six months is on par with the bank’s most recent study conducted back in January.
M&T usually conducts the survey twice per calendar year, says Keith, who is based at the bank’s headquarters in Buffalo.
On that same question, about four percent expected to reduce payroll in the same time period, compared to six percent in January, M&T found.
It appears the economy is establishing some modest momentum, Keith says.
“It just means that employers, I think, are getting more comfortable with the place they’re at in the business cycle,” he adds.
They’re not seeing as many “impediments” to confidence in hiring new employees as they have in the last few years, Keith says.
Domestic and global conditions are also factors in the future confidence of company managers, he contends.
It was a “pretty calm summer” with few distractions from Washington, D.C. and around the globe, Keith notes. But he also acknowledges the international concern over Syria following the chemical-weapons attack on civilians.
“Those kinds of things … can change business plans,” he says, noting that domestic concerns about the federal budget and the federal-debt ceiling can also affect business confidence.
Besides work-force plans, the survey also found about four in 10 of the middle-market firms expect national economic growth to accelerate over the next six months, which more than doubles the 20 percent reading from the Q3 survey in 2012, M&T Bank said.
In addition, more than half (54 percent) of the middle-market firms expect their unit sales to improve in the next six months, while just 11 percent expect sales to decline. The January survey found roughly the same percentages.
The Q3 survey also found most survey respondents expect an increase in demand for the remainder of 2013. That breaks down to 61 percent of middle-market firms and 65 percent of commercial real-estate firms, the bank said.
Recent increases in business-capital expenses and local economic growth are the primary factors underlying their confidence, according to M&T Bank.
Of the commercial real-estate (CRE) firms that responded, 58 percent said the U.S. economy has improved over the past six months, which is 18 percent higher than 40 percent reading in the January survey.
Four percent of the CREs felt the national economy had worsened.
The survey also found 58 percent expected CRE fundamentals to improve through mid-year, up from 53 percent in January.
In addition, 36 percent expect occupancy rates to increase over the next six months, while 19 percent expect occupancy to fall, the survey found.
M&T Bank started conducting the survey during the national economic downturn in 2009, the bank, at the time, was hoping to “get some regionalization to what we see at the national level,” Keith says.
M&T Bank during July and August conducted an Internet survey among senior managers and owners of privately held businesses located throughout the bank’s geographic footprint.
The survey’s 413 respondents included 333 middle-market enterprises (annual sales between $10 million and $500 million) and 80 commercial real-estate investors and lessors.
M&T has conducted the survey since mid-2009.
Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com