The moderation of April got even more moderate in May, with our Accountants Confidence Index dropping still further, and the short-term prediction even dipping below break-even into contraction.
The ACI, created 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 and 6-Month ACI readings for this month straddled 50, which is the divider between growth and contraction. The 3-Month ACI came in at 49.82, down from 51.27, while the 6-Month ACI hit 51.54, down from 52.92.
Most of the index components saw modest declines, with no significant outliers.
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.