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PNC Survey Shows Weak Business Optimism

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PNC Bank

A PNC survey shows small to mid-sized business owners across the state are less optimistic about doing business than they were six months ago.  The PNC Economic Outlook survey shows 8 percent of business owners intend to add full-time employees.  Nationwide, it’s 16 pecent.

PNC Economist Mekael Teshome says  North Carolina business owners continue to report weak sales and are being extremely cautious.

“There have been a lot of policy changes at the state level in North Carolina.  There have been a lot of policy changes and big question marks at the national level and even at the global level, for the businesses that are international players.  And so, when you combine those three things, it creates a cloud of uncertainty," said Teshome.

Teshome says out of the 151 business owners surveyed across the state, 8% said they would likely take out a new loan in the next six months.  That’s down from 15 percent in the spring, and 17 percent of business owners said they would reduce hiring because of the Affordable Care Act.

Leoneda Inge is the co-host of WUNC's "Due South." Leoneda has been a radio journalist for more than 30 years, spending most of her career at WUNC as the Race and Southern Culture reporter. Leoneda’s work includes stories of race, slavery, memory and monuments. She has won "Gracie" awards, an Alfred I. duPont Award and several awards from the Radio, Television, Digital News Association (RTDNA). In 2017, Leoneda was named "Journalist of Distinction" by the National Association of Black Journalists.
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