Huntsville Metro Area Report

Alabama Business Confidence Index™

Second Quarter 2025

Decreased Business Confidence in Q2 2025

Huntsville’s ABCI registered at 49.5 in the Q2 2025 survey, signaling mildly confident expectations for worse economic conditions compared to the previous quarter. This quarter’s ABCI is 11.9 points below the metro’s strongly expansionary Q1 2025 ABCI. All six of the Huntsville’s component indexes decreased this quarter, with four falling by more than 10 points. The overall outlook for industry sales and profits remains mildly positive, but business leaders are forecasting decreased hiring compared to last quarter and worse economic conditions in the both the US and Alabama economies.

Index above 50 indicates positive outlook as compared to last quarter.
Index below 50 indicates negative outlook compared to last quarter.

Huntsville Component Index Analysis

• Alabama Economy: Huntsville business leaders are anticipating worse economic conditions in Alabama in Q2 2025 with mild confidence, resulting in a 15.6-point decrease to the Alabama Economy outlook, resulting in an index of 47.5.
• US Economy: After briefly registering as expansionary in Q1 2025, the US economic outlook decreased 16.2 points to register at a moderately contractionary index of 44.4. Over 50 percent of panelists are forecasting worse conditions for the national economy compared to last quarter.
• Industry Sales: Despite falling 9.4 points from its Q1 2025 level, the Q2 2025 sales outlook remained Huntsville’s highest component index for the fifth consecutive quarter at a mildly confident 54.2.
• Industry Profits: With an index of 51.1, metro panelists are forecasting an increase in industry profits compared to last quarter’s levels with very mild confidence. This quarter’s index is 7.4 points below Q1 2025’s moderately expansionary forecast.
• Industry Hiring: Huntsville’s hiring index is a mildly contractionary 48.9 this quarter after dropping 12.5 points from last quarter’s moderately expansionary forecast.
• Industry Capital Expenditures: Huntsville panelists are forecasting capital expenditure growth compared to last quarter’s levels with very mild confidence. The index decreased 10.3 points from Q1 2025 to reach 50.7 in the Q2 2025 survey.

ABCI Huntsville in Context

From Q3 2022 to Q4 2024, Huntsville’s overall business confidence alternated between expansionary and contractionary forecasts every few quarters. During this time, expectations for industry growth were mostly positive but the forecasts for the US economy were confidently contractionary. In Q1 2025, the ABCI jumped to a strongly confident expansionary index of 61.4 as business leaders forecasted improved economic conditions in the US economy for the first time since Q3 2021. Expectations were also high for industry growth that quarter, resulting in the highest ABCI in four years. However, this optimism was not sustained in the Q2 2025 survey, with panelists anticipating decreased hiring compared to last quarter’s levels as well as worse conditions in the state and national economies.

Panelists in Mobile had the highest metro ABCI this quarter at 54.4, with more confidence in their forecasts for increased sales, profits, and hiring than the other metro areas. The Birmingham–Hoover ABCI was also expansionary with a mildly confident index of 51.9. The ABCIs for Huntsville, Tuscaloosa, and Montgomery were all below 50, as business leaders forecast worse economic conditions in both the statewide and national economies and the contraction of at least one of their industry indexes.

The Center for Business and Economic Research would like to thank the Alabama business executives who completed the second quarter 2025 ABCI™ survey. This is the 94th consecutive quarter this report has been recorded, and it would not have been possible without your participation.
Be sure to log in during the June 1–15 survey window to record your opinions about economic prospects and industry performance looking ahead to the third quarter of 2025.

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This report was produced in partnership between the Center for Business and Economic Research at the The University of Alabama’s Culverhouse College of Business and the Huntsville Area Chamber of Commerce.

Analysis provided by Susannah Robichaux, Socioeconomic Analyst, Center for Business and Economic Research, Culverhouse College of Business, The University of Alabama.