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Lehigh Valley companies increased hiring at a pace not seen in nearly a decade, according to a local economist's survey released Wednesday by the Greater Lehigh Valley Chamber of Commerce. Overall business sentiment also is up to a rate nearly as high as before the Great Recession, Bethlehem economist Kamran Afshar said of his latest Lehigh Valley Employment & Purchasing Index, which surveys about 250 Lehigh Valley employers. The hiring index of 62.9 for the October survey is an 11 percent increase from the same month in 2014, when it stood at 56.5. That's the highest since April 2006, when the index stood at 63.9, Afshar said. The greater the index number, the faster the pace of hiring. "I knew this was phenomenal," Afshar said Tuesday, ahead of the survey's release. "I didn't know it was that phenomenal." The overall business sentiment index, which measures hiring and spending plans, stood at 64.5 in October, 3.3 points higher than a year ago, Afshar said. He said overall sentiment is at its highest level since January 2007, when it measured 66.9. Afshar's index has shown signs of optimism before, only to be followed by setback. In October 2013, the business sentiment index neared 61, only to fall in early 2014 as much of the country was in the grip of the polar vortex and companies lost confidence in the recovery. Click here to read more.
Lehigh Valley companies increased hiring at a pace not seen in nearly a decade, according to a local economist's survey released Wednesday by the Greater Lehigh Valley Chamber of Commerce.
Overall business sentiment also is up to a rate nearly as high as before the Great Recession, Bethlehem economist Kamran Afshar said of his latest Lehigh Valley Employment & Purchasing Index, which surveys about 250 Lehigh Valley employers.
The hiring index of 62.9 for the October survey is an 11 percent increase from the same month in 2014, when it stood at 56.5. That's the highest since April 2006, when the index stood at 63.9, Afshar said. The greater the index number, the faster the pace of hiring.
"I knew this was phenomenal," Afshar said Tuesday, ahead of the survey's release. "I didn't know it was that phenomenal."
The overall business sentiment index, which measures hiring and spending plans, stood at 64.5 in October, 3.3 points higher than a year ago, Afshar said. He said overall sentiment is at its highest level since January 2007, when it measured 66.9.
Afshar's index has shown signs of optimism before, only to be followed by setback. In October 2013, the business sentiment index neared 61, only to fall in early 2014 as much of the country was in the grip of the polar vortex and companies lost confidence in the recovery. Click here to read more.