Author
Signs are upbeat that the Ninth District economy will continue to grow, according to a recent poll of more than 300 business contacts from across the district (see methodology below).
For starters, 40 percent plan to increase employment at their firms, and nearly three-quarters of these firms cited expected high sales growth as the most important factor. Only 7 percent plan to decrease employment. In the same survey a year ago, 38 percent planned to increase employment and 10 percent planned to cut jobs.
Other important factors cited for new hiring were overworked staff, improved financial condition of firms and the need for additional skills. The majority of respondents plan to use word of mouth and advertising to get new employees. Twenty-eight percent plan to use a recruiting firm, and surprisingly few (9 percent) plan to raise starting pay.
For those respondents not planning to hire additional people this year, most expected low growth sales and a desire to keep operating costs low. Many reported difficulty finding skilled candidates. Though fiscal policy developments were not a factor for most respondents, 35 percent said they had a detrimental effect on hiring and 4 percent said they would increase hiring plans.
The survey also asked about wages and benefits; 36 percent expected wage growth of 2.5 percent or more, and a similar amount expected positive wage growth of less than 2.5 percent (see Chart 1). Respondents generally believed benefit increases would be larger than those for wages (see Chart 2).
Methodology:On Jan. 15, the Minneapolis Fed invited, via email, about 1,000 Beige Book contacts from across the Ninth District to answer the special question in a web-based survey. By Jan. 31, 303 contacts had filled out the survey. The respondents come from a variety of industries (see table below).
