In addition to gauging firms' price-setting environment and year-ahead unit cost expectations, the Atlanta Fed uses the survey to investigate issues of longer-term interest for research and policy. Frequently, we will ask a "special question" designed for this purpose. Here is a summary of the special questions and responses from our panel.
May 2012: Assessment of "normal" sales levels
Compared to one year ago, how has your estimation of "normal" sales levels changed?
| Number of responses | Decreased | Stayed the same | Increased |
|---|---|---|---|
| 155 | 30% | 45% | 25% |
April 2012: Expectations for unit cost inflation over the long term
Projecting ahead, to the best of your ability, please assign a percent likelihood to the following changes to unit costs per year over the next five to 10 years.
| Unit costs down (<-1%) | Unit costs about unchanged (-1% to 1%) | Unit costs up somewhat (1.1% to 3%) | Unit costs up significantly (3.1% to 5%) | Unit costs up very significantly (>5%) | Mean | Median | Mode | Variance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4% | 12% | 36% | 30% | 18% | 3.0 | 3.0 | 2.9 | 2.6 |
March 2012: Influences on pricing decisions
ORDINARILY, what level of influence do the following have on your pricing decisions? (1=No influence, 5=Very influential)
| Number of responses |
Labor costs |
Materials costs |
Transportation costs |
Marketing costs |
Demand for product or service |
Inventories | Competitive pressure |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | 150 | 3.3 | 3.4 | 2.9 | 2.4 | 3.7 | 2.4 | 3.8 |
| Retail & Wholesale Trade | 17 | 3.2 | 4.1 | 3.1 | 2.9 | 3.4 | 3.3 | 4.2 |
| Manufacturing | 34 | 3.2 | 4.3 | 3.6 | 2.1 | 3.9 | 2.6 | 4.0 |
| Other | 99 | 3.4 | 3.0 | 2.7 | 2.4 | 3.7 | 2.2 | 3.6 |
February 2012: Expectations for unit cost increases over the long term
Projecting ahead, to the best of your ability, please assign a percent likelihood to the following changes to unit costs per year over the next five to 10 years.
| Number of responses |
Unit costs down |
Unit costs about unchanged (-1% to 1%) | Unit costs up somewhat (1.1% to 3%) | Unit costs up significantly (3.1% to 5%) | Unit costs up very significantly (>5%) | Mean | Median | Mode | Variance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 89 | 4% | 11% | 38% | 29% | 17% | 2.9 | 2.9 | 2.9 | 2.8 |
Note: Responses to the special question are limited to those that were submitted after 5:30 p.m. Monday, February 13, due to a variation in the question text.
January 2012: How frequently do firms make very small adjustments to their prices?
Out of every 20 price changes you make, roughly how many are adjustments of less than 1 percent?
| Number of responses |
0 | 1-2 | 3-5 | 6-10 | 11-15 | 16-20 | N/A |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 161 | 35% | 14% | 13% | 15% | 6% | 9% | 9% |
The results were mixed. A significant share (35 percent) of firms indicated that they do not make very small price adjustments. However, for a significant minority of businesses, small price adjustments were common.
Note: Percentages may not add up to 100 percent because of rounding.
