San Diego businesses are starting to feel more optimistic about the future, according to the most recent San Diego County Business Forecast.
In January, the county’s business outlook index hit a high of 29.7, bettering the previous high of 29.4 in December.
“The last three months have proven to be fairly positive for San Diego County businesses,” said Alan Lane, chief executive officer of Silvergate Bank, which sponsors the forecast report for the San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce.
The forecast is based on survey responses from some 200 local business executives from the San Diego chamber and the San Diego East County Chamber of Commerce.
Of those responding, about half say they will be adding employees in the coming three months. Most of those planning expansion come from companies with more than 50 employees, the survey found.
Asked to select the industries that are most important to San Diego, 54 percent named tourism, entertainment and hospitality, which led the list.
The next most important was life sciences and biotech sector, which was selected as the second most important industry by 25 percent of respondents.
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The defense industry came in third place in the survey as the most important economic driver.
The survey was conducted Jan. 16-29 by Competitive Edge Research.
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