Bankers in Wisconsin view the state’s economy more favorably now than earlier this year, according to the latest executive survey from the Wisconsin Bankers Association.
The group’s latest Economic Conditions Survey of bank CEOs found 83% rate the state economy as good or excellent, up from 76% in the mid-year 2024 survey. At this point in 2023, 68% said Wisconsin’s economy was good or excellent.
In an even larger jump, 29% of respondents expect the state economy to grow over the next six months — well above the 8% expecting growth in the prior survey.
When asked about the prospects for business loans in the next six months, 41% said they expect demand for these loans to rise while just 3% expect it to weaken. In the prior survey, those figures were 8% and 26%, respectively.
Loan demand is projected to rise across a number of other categories, including commercial and residential real estate, and agriculture. All three had stronger expectations than in the past three surveys, reflecting a brighter outlook among bankers.
Still, this optimism about the state is tempered by shifting expectations around inflation. In the latest survey, 22% said they expect inflation to rise in the next six months, compared to 8% in the last survey. Still, no respondents said a recession is very likely in the next six months, a decline from 6% in the previous survey.
Respondents pointed to a number of “economic bright spots” in the survey, ranging from stable employment and consumer spending to the strength of key state industries including manufacturing, technology, tourism and residential construction.