The Equipment Leasing & Finance Foundation (the Foundation) releases the July 2022 Monthly Confidence Index for the Equipment Finance Industry (MCI-EFI) today. The index reports a qualitative assessment of both the prevailing business conditions and expectations for the future as reported by key executives from the $900 billion equipment finance sector. Overall, confidence in the equipment finance market is 46.1, a decrease from the June index of 50.9.
When asked about the outlook for the future, MCI-EFI survey respondent Adam Warner, president, Key Equipment Finance, says in a press release, "While people are likely to look with trepidation at recent federal government reactions to energy policy, inflation and our positioning with global threats, one aspect of our economy that remains strong is the move toward implementing new technologies to help businesses increase productivity and efficiency, and best utilize the human resources they have available.”
When asked to assess their business conditions over the next four months, 3.7% of executives responding say they believe business conditions will improve over the next four months, a decrease from 11.1% in June. 63% believe business conditions will remain the same over the next four months, up from 55.6% the previous month. 33.3% believe business conditions will worsen, unchanged from June.
When asked, 18.5% of the executives report they expect to hire more employees over the next four months, down from 29.6% in June. Nearly 80% expect no change in headcount over the next four months, an increase from 66.7% last month. 3.7% expect to hire fewer employees, unchanged from June.
Read the press release at www.leasefoundation.org