Beginning in 2023 Q3 Quarterly Market Report, the Chamber began a survey of local businesses to gauge the state of the Quad Cities economy. This survey is similar to surveys conducted by groups around the country, in that it asks some basic questions about the respondent’s assessment of economic activity, wages, hiring, capital expenditures and a few other indicators. The options for each question are “increasing,” “decreasing” or “no change.” A “diffusion index” is calculated for each question, which is simply the difference in percentage points between “increasing” and “decreasing.” This diffusion index captures the degree to which respondents as a group feel that a certain aspect of the business climate is changing in one direction or the other.
The responses this quarter are a representative mix of companies from the region with 19% manufacturing, 28% retail, 39% service providers and 14% other. (In some lines of the tables, percentages do not total 100 due to rounding.)
This survey will be a regular feature in the Quarterly Market Report, and we invite our members and other local businesses to watch for the survey invitation next quarter.
As the difference in responses between manufacturing and non-manufacturing companies was not significant, only the overall results will be reported this quarter.
