Business Inflation Expectations And Firm Optimism Trends

The Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta publishes a monthly report titled “Business Inflation Expectations” (BIE) that contains statistics from a survey of regional businesses’ views on various factors that impact profitability.  These factors include unit costs, unit cost expectations, sales levels, profit margins, and other factors.

As described on the site:

Approximately 300 panelists receive the survey each month. Panelists represent businesses of various sizes headquartered within the Sixth District, which encompasses Alabama, Florida, Georgia, and sections of Louisiana, Mississippi, and Tennessee. Panelists range from executives of large corporations to owner-operators of small businesses. The industry composition of the panel roughly reflects the makeup of the national economy. Nevertheless, survey responses are weighted by industry shares of national gross domestic product.

Two excerpts from the December 2017 BIE Survey dated December 15, 2017 (involving 164 firms responding):

• Inflation expectations: Firms’ inflation expectations increased to 2.1 percent over the year ahead.

also:

• This month’s Special Question was the following, with responses shown in the report:

Since November 2016 we have periodically asked panel members to rate their current level of optimism regarding the U.S. economy and their own firm’s financial prospects. This month’s measures indicate an improvement in their level of optimism in both cases. See the special question section below for more detail.

The report also includes other questions and a variety of charts and tables depicting respondents’ answers.

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