After a modest decline last month, the Accountants Confidence Index bounced back strongly, rising by more than a point in both the short- and the mid-term. Respondents cited strong local growth trends, particularly in construction, and a number noted that they were seeing job openings go unfilled because there weren't enough candidates.
Concern about the impact of tariffs and the upcoming election season injected some uncertainty, but overall, optimism was on the rise, and pessimism more muted than in previous months.
The ACI, published in partnership with ADP, is a monthly economic indicator that leverages the insights of accountants into the strength and prospects of businesses in the U.S. The 3-Month ACI came in at 55.47, up from the previous month's 54.32, and well above the 50 mark that separates expectations of growth from expectations of contraction. The 6-Month ACI, meanwhile, came in at 57.62, strongly up from last month's 56.06.
Among the index components, respondents' expectations for their own firms' short-term growth bounced back most strongly, jumping just over two points, though all the other components rose to some degree.
The ACI is created from a monthly poll of the Accounting Today Executive Research Council, an online community of more than 1,500 tax and accounting professionals.