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, pricing, 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.”
An excerpt from the April 2023 BIE Survey dated April 12, 2023 (involving 200 firms responding):
- Inflation expectations: Firms’ year-ahead inflation expectations decreased significantly to 2.8 percent, on average.
- Current economic environment: Sales levels “compared to normal” increased. However, profit margins “compared to normal” remained relatively unchanged. Year-over-year unit cost growth significantly decreased to 3.6 percent, on average.
- Quarterly question: Firms’ sales gaps (percentage below “normal” unit sales levels) increased to 4.0 percent below normal. Medium and large firms’ unit sales gaps increased significantly. However, small businesses experienced a significant decrease in unit sales gaps.
- Special question: Firms were asked about their reactions to the most recent bank failures. They were also asked about their turnover rate. A breakdown of the results can be found in the special question section below.
The report also includes other questions and a variety of charts and tables depicting respondents’ answers.
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RevSD, LLC offers the above commentary for informational purposes only, and does not necessarily agree with all (or any) of the views expressed by these outside parties.
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ProfitabilityIssues.com is published by RevSD, LLC. RevSD, LLC is a management consulting firm and strategic advisory that focuses on the analysis of current and future business conditions, and given these conditions, offers corporations and businesses advice, strategies, and actionable methods on how to optimally increase revenues and profitability.