Original article by Roy Morgan Research
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 12-Apr-17

Roy Morgan Research’s Business Confidence rose 2.4% to 113.8 in March 2017. The rise in Business Confidence coincided with the All Ordinaries Index gaining 142.8pts (+2.5%) to 5,903.8. However, the continuing low Western Australian Business Confidence contributed to the election loss for former premier Colin Barnett. WA has consistently had the lowest Business Confidence of any State since the end of the mining boom in mid-2015. A record high 43.3% (up 3.4ppts) of businesses say they are "better off financially" than a year ago while just 28.6% (down 2.2ppts) say they are "worse off", a net positive gain of 5.6ppts. In addition, 50.1% (up 4.4ppts) of businesses expect "good times" for the Australian economy over the next 12 months, while 46.1% (down 0.8ppts), expect "bad times" – a net positive gain of 5.2ppts. Meanwhile, 50% (up 0.8ppts) expect "good times" for the economy over the next five years, while 41.8% (unchanged) expect bad times.

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