The Equipment Leasing & Finance Foundation released the results of its monthly confidence index, which showed overall confidence levels in the equipment finance market “eased further” this month.

The January 2019 Monthly Confidence Index for the Equipment Finance Industry clocked in at 53.4, a decrease from 55.5 in December, according to a press release.

When asked to assess their business conditions over the next four months, 10 percent of the respondents said they believed business conditions will improve over the next four months, a decrease from 13.8 percent in December. Also, 70 percent of the respondents believed business conditions will remain the same over the next four months, an increase from 65.5 percent the previous month. And 20 percent said they expect business conditions to worsen, down slightly from 20.7 percent the previous month.

Other survey findings:

• 36.7 percent of the respondents evaluated the current U.S. economy as “excellent,” a decrease from 41.4 percent in December; 63.3 percent said it was “fair,” an increase from 58.6 percent last month. 

• 21.4 percent expected more access to capital to fund equipment acquisitions over the next four months, up from 17.2 percent in December. 

• 10 percent believed that U.S. economic conditions will get “better” over the next six months, down slightly from 10.7 percent in December; 50 percent believed it will “stay the same” over the next six months, down from 53.6 percent; and 40 percent believed conditions will worsen over the next six months, up from 35.7 percent.