Businesses across the U.S. in August lowered their expectations for sales growth, a nationwide survey by the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta showed Wednesday.
Expected sales growth over the four-quarter period ahead fell from 6.7 percent in July to 5.0 in August, the Atlanta Fed’s Business Uncertainty Survey showed.
According to the Atlanta Fed, these company-level growth expectations are highly predictive of realized growth rates.
Businesses also increased their expectatons for raising employment after July’s slump. This could be an indication that the labor shortage that dragged down employment numbers this spring and summer has begun to ease.
The measures of uncertainty about sales and workforce predictions also declined, indicating that businesses are increasingly confident in their forecast.
The survey covers all regions of the U.S. economy. It include all industries except agriculture and government, and covers a broad range of firm sizes.
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