Business Economists Still Fretting

Other highlights from the survey:

• In the finance, insurance and real estate sector, 63% of respondents reported rising sales, while only 6% noted declining sales.
• More than half (58%) said profit margins were flat in the past three months, while 27% reported rising profits and 15% reported falling profits.
• About 20% reported price increases during the past three months, compared with just 9% reporting price increase in July.
• About two-thirds do not expect price changes in the current quarter, somewhat less than the 74% who did not expect price changes in July.
• Some 60% said that materials costs to their firms had not changed in the past three months, compared with 65% in the July survey.

The NABE noted that anxiety over the crisis in Europe has subsided somewhat, although the approaching fiscal cliff remains a “significant” concern.

Paul Ausick