A survey of 250 Maryland business leaders showed revenues increased slightly in the second quarter over the first three months of the year.

Those findings in the the Maryland Business Climate Survey released Monday show the state's economy remains positive, but all that could change depending on trade and tariff issues and workforce development.

"I think that the economy is still positive, but there has been a lot of uncertainty," said Richard Clinch, director of the University of Baltimore’s Jacob France Institute. "We don't know if it's going up or down."

The Maryland Business Climate Survey revealed that the uptick in business revenues was 2 percent over the first three months this year. Yet those gains lagged behind the revenues reported in the final quarter of 2018.

"It means that from the end of the year we are better than we were. It's very consistent that the economy is doing well, but there is uncertainty."

The survey of state business leaders is conducted every quarter by the University of Baltimore’s Jacob France Institute and the Maryland Public Policy Institute.

Other findings from the second-quarter report show business leaders remain optimistic about future growth.

A total of 65 percent of the 250 business leaders queried reported they expect their markets to grow in the coming year — and the second quarter showed a 9 percent jump over the first quarter.

"They tend to show that the climate is a lot more volatile, but they are still positive," Clinch said, of the faith in the state's business market.

The survey also showed that issues of workforce shortages remain a consistent woe for executives. Clinch said that problem can be solved with more workforce training programs and apprenticeships for workers to learn new skills.

Past business climate surveys have shown that the high taxes charged for business owners in Maryland "consistently polled as a drag on Maryland's business climate." The high cost of living in the state was also a problem.

"Making Maryland more attractive to move to," he said. "We have a high cost of living and high taxes."