Designers' confidence in the economy increased in the fourth quarter of 2013, according to AIGA's Design Leaders Confidence Index. The index ticked upward to 101.26, up from the previous quarter's 95.94.
Design leaders seem generally optimistic about the overall economy, although not expecting dramatic growth: only 6 percent believed the economy was worse today than it had been six months ago and 96.2 percent believed the economy would be the same or better six months into the future. Focusing on the design sector, nearly half assessed current business as better than six months ago and 43.2 percent considered it the same. Nearly 60 percent looked forward to better business over the next six months, with only 4.7 percent projecting business will be worse.
In terms of hiring, 41 percent felt the chances of hiring additional staff was better today than it had been last October; 47.8 percent thought it was about the same; only 11.2 percent thought it was worse. Over 90 percent believed their chances of purchasing additional hardware and software was the same or better than last October.