There has been a fair amount of attention given to the possibility of an economic slowdown in 2014. While only a small anecdote in the volume of economic data, a recent survey still suggests a positive outlook in 2014 for the Ninth District economy.
The Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis conducted an ad hoc survey of 135 Ninth District firms and asked them about their outlook for 2014 (see methodology). Over 80 percent expressed optimism for their community’s economy over the next 12 months. This is comparable to the 74 percent of respondents to the November 2013 fedgazette Business Outlook Poll. Results by sector show that construction respondents were the most positive with 9 out of 10 reporting optimism, followed by manufacturing (87 percent), professional services (80 percent) and finance, insurance and real estate (79 percent).
“Seeing improved trends,” said a Minnesota banker, reflecting the overall mood of respondents; 53 percent expect increased sales for their operations compared with only 9 percent that expect decreased sales. Part of the sales increase is due to higher productivity, which 65 percent said occurred at their firm over the past 12 months. Higher sales expectations are partially reflected in the 39 percent of businesses that expect to increase prices, while 8 percent expect to lower prices.
More companies also plan more capital investment—30 percent expect an increase over last year’s spending, while 12 percent predict a decrease. Companies are having a better time financing these capital expenditures through better access to bank credit; 19 percent reported improved access, while only 5 percent noted deteriorated access.
More companies are hiring, too, with 34 percent expecting more employment and only 9 percent expecting less. Firms are facing some challenges; 44 percent noted that securing workers was a challenge, and over half reported that complying with government regulation was a challenge. FIRE respondents, at 69 percent, reported the most concern about complying with regulations.
Ad hoc survey methodology: On Feb. 10, an email was sent to 1,000 business contacts from various sectors around the Ninth District. By 5 p.m. on Feb. 12, 135 responses were received, representing a 13.5 percent response rate. The largest number of respondents came from finance, insurance and real estate (44 percent), professional services (24 percent), manufacturing (14 percent) and construction (10 percent). The disproportionate number of FIRE responses could have some unknown influence on results.