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.
December 2012: Number of employees, hours, and effort compared to "normal"
With regard to your workforce, how do the following compare to "normal" times?
| Number of employees | Average hours per employee | Effort per hour | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Greater than normal | 9.9% | 23.5% | 37.4% |
| About the same as normal | 48.8% | 59.3% | 56.4% |
| Less than normal | 40.9% | 16.7% | 6.9% |
| Unsure | 0.5% | 0.5% | 2.0% |
November 2012: Year-Ahead Sales Level Expectations
Projecting ahead, to the best of your ability, please assign a percent likelihood to the following changes to sales levels over the next 12 months.
| Sales levels down (<-1%) |
Sales levels about unchanged (-1% to 1%) |
Sales levels up somewhat (1.1% to 3%) |
Sales levels up significantly (3.1% to 5%) |
Sales levels up very significantly (>5%) |
Mean | Median | Mode | Variance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Construction and Real Estate (34) | 17% | 35% | 29% | 12% | 6% | 1.1% | 1.1% | 1.3% | 2.7% |
| Finance and Insurance (20) | 24% | 42% | 23% | 9% | 4% | 0.5% | 0.4% | 0.1% | 2.8% |
| General Services (15) | 11% | 45% | 27% | 14% | 3% | 1.0% | 1.0% | 1.0% | 2.5% |
| Manufacturing (34) | 16% | 24% | 26% | 18% | 15% | 1.8% | 1.8% | 2.2% | 2.9% |
| Retail & Wholesale Trade (42) | 18% | 25% | 30% | 18% | 10% | 1.5% | 1.5% | 1.4% | 3.2% |
| Other (52) | 12% | 32% | 33% | 15% | 8% | 1.5% | 1.5% | 1.3% | 2.7% |
| All Respondents (197) | 16% | 32% | 29% | 15% | 8% | 1.2% | 1.2% | 1.1% | 2.8% |
October 2012: Long-term inflation expectations
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.
| N | 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 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| February 2012 | 89 | 4% | 11% | 38% | 29% | 17% | 2.9% | 2.9% | 2.9% | 2.8% |
| April 2012 | 152 | 4% | 12% | 36% | 30% | 18% | 3.0% | 3.0% | 2.9% | 2.6% |
| July 2012 | 153 | 4% | 15% | 36% | 26% | 19% | 2.8% | 2.9% | 3.0% | 2.9% |
| October 2012 | 196 | 4% | 13% | 36% | 30% | 17% | 2.9% | 2.9% | 2.9% | 2.7% |
September 2012: Measuring the sales gap
By roughly what percent are your sales levels above/below "normal"?
| Number of responses |
Firm size | Average gap |
|---|---|---|
| 92 | Small (1–99 employees) | –9.6% |
| 43 | Medium (100–499 employees) | –9.6% |
| 49 | Large (500+ employees) | –4.9% |
| 184 | Total (weighted by industry share of GDP) | –7.6% |
August 2012: Gauging firms' perception of pricing power
Survey respondents were randomly assigned one of the following questions.
| Industry | Number of responses |
Average | Median | Mode | Variance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| What effect would an unanticipated 2 percent rise in unit costs have on your prices? | Total | 87 | 1.3% | 1.5% | 2.0% | 0.8% |
| 15 | 1.7% | 2.0% | 2.5% | 1.0% | ||
| Manufacturing | 18 | 1.2% | 1.3% | 1.5% | 0.7% | |
| Other | 54 | 1.3% | 1.0% | 2.0% | 0.8% | |
| What effect would an unanticipated 6 percent rise in unit costs have on your prices? | Total | 82 | 3.8% | 4.0% | 3.0% | 4.4% |
| Retail and wholesale trade | 14 | 4.3% | 4.0% | 4.0% | 3.4% | |
| Manufacturing | 17 | 4.1% | 4.0% | 4.0% | 2.8% | |
| Other | 51 | 3.6% | 3.5% | 0.0% | 5.2% |
July 2012: Long-term inflation expectations
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.
| N | 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 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| February 17, 2012 | 89 | 4% | 11% | 38% | 29% | 17% | 2.9% | 2.9% | 2.9% | 2.8% |
| April 13, 2012 | 152 | 4% | 12% | 36% | 30% | 18% | 3.0% | 3.0% | 2.9% | 2.6% |
| July 20, 2012 | 153 | 4% | 15% | 36% | 26% | 19% | 2.8% | 2.9% | 3.0% | 2.9% |
June 2012: Influences on prices over the last 12 months
Looking back over the LAST 12 months, how do you think the following five common influences have affected the prices of your products and/or services?
| Strong downward influence | Moderate downward influence | Little/no influence | Moderate upward influence | Strong upward influence | Diffusion Index† | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Labor costs | 0% | 2% | 52% | 41% | 4% | 24 |
| Non-labor costs | 0% | 6% | 30% | 53% | 11% | 34 |
| Productivity | 1% | 14% | 67% | 18% | 1% | 2 |
| Margin adjustments | 3% | 19% | 55% | 21% | 2% | 1 |
| Sales levels | 4% | 20% | 45% | 27% | 4% | 4 |
| † The diffusion index is calculated such that each response of strong downward influence is assigned a value of –100, moderate downward influence is assigned a value of –50, little/no influence 0, moderate upward influence 50, and strong upward influence 100. Therefore, a positive index value indicates that overall prices are being influenced upwards, on average, and a negative index value indicates that prices are being influenced downwards, on average. | ||||||
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: Long-term inflation expectations
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: Long-term inflation expectations
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.
