U.S. business journalists – who report daily on the economy in their communities – say they expect their local economic conditions, including the number of jobs available, to improve in the next six months, according to a new survey commissioned by the Donald W. Reynolds National Center for Business Journalism.

The Reynolds Center survey is an effort to see if business journalists, who track local economic developments, might be prescient about the direction of the U.S. economy, said Executive Director Linda Austin.

"Business journalists expressed optimism in the last survey, conducted in July, about what would happen in their local economies, and several national economic indicators have recently shown improvement," she said. "In the January survey, they are even more bullish."

Findings of the most recent phone survey, conducted Jan. 18-24, of 300 randomly selected business journalists, include:

• Almost half say they think general business conditions in their area will be better in six months. That was up from about a third who said that last July.
• About eight out of 10 say local jobs are in short supply. But about four out of 10 expect more jobs to be available locally in six months.
• Four out of 10 say their local housing market will improve in the next six months.

The firm that conducted the survey also asks the general public about the economy. Its president, Jim Haynes, says business journalists' greater optimism than the general public may reflect their closer reading of economic data.