Federal Reserve Survey: Tariffs Continue to Plague Businesses, Expecting 4% Price Increase Next Year

BlockBeats News, December 17 — A survey conducted jointly by the Richmond and Atlanta Federal Reserve Banks and Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business shows that corporate finance executives still view tariffs as their top concern and on average expect prices to rise by about 4% next year. This result may heighten the Federal Reserve’s concerns about current inflation pressures — pressures that could prevent it from quickly achieving its 2% inflation target. The survey was conducted from November 11 to December 1 and included 548 chief financial officers. The results indicate that confidence in both their own companies and the overall U.S. economy has declined. The U.S. overall economic optimism index dropped from 62.9 in Q3 (out of 100) to 60.2, also below the recent high of 66 reached after President Trump’s current term began at the end of 2024. Overall, respondents expect moderate growth in employment and the economy by 2026, with the median corporate employment expected to grow by 1.7% in 2026 (similar to recent surveys), and the annual economic growth rate projected at approximately 1.9%. Less than half (40%) of companies are hiring new positions, slightly below 20% of companies that are not hiring at all, and about 9% expect layoffs. (Jin10)