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 2013: Year-ahead unit compensation growth expectations
Projecting ahead, over the next 12 months, by roughly what percentage do you expect your firm's average compensation per worker (including benefits) to change?
April 2013: Year-ahead unit sales level growth expectations
Projecting ahead, to the best of your ability, please assign a percent likelihood to the following changes to UNIT SALES LEVELS over the next 12 months.
March 2013: Percentage rise in unit costs that would trigger price increase
By what percentage would your unit costs have to increase for you to increase the prices of your products and/or services? (percentage of respondents)
February 2013: Frequency of price change
What percentage of your products and/or services change prices ______?
January 2013: A description of "normal" times
How would you describe "normal" times for your firm?*
| Percentage of responses | |
|---|---|
| A level of demand | 23% |
| A growth rate of revenue, sales, etc. | 22% |
| Other (availability of credit, level of employment, average performance) | 21% |
| An environment of price stability (stable margins/costs) | 17% |
| Specific economic conditions (such as 3% GDP growth, low unemployment) | 11% |
| A predictable business environment | 7% |
| *Note: This was an open-ended question. Response types were grouped and percentages for each response type represent the percent of total responses. | |
Note: Percentages may not add up to 100 percent because of rounding.
