Business inflation expectations increased to 3.6% in February 2022 in the Federal’s Reserve’s Sixth District, trending steadily upward from 1.4% in April 2021.
Approximately 40% of firms expect labor and non-labor costs to put significant upward pressures on prices and 30% expect a moderate upward pressure due to sales levels and margin adjustments.
Year-over-year cost growth increased significantly to 4% and profit margins decreased.
According to the Atlanta Fed’s survey 71% of the surveyed companies suffered from supplier delays, 45% experienced delays in shipping or delivery to customers, 40% experienced difficulty locating alternate suppliers and 32% production delays.
Almost 36% of the company’s expect problems with supplier delays to last between six and 12 months.
