Respondents to the April 2020 National Association for Business Economics (NABE) Business Conditions Survey report that last quarter was the worst since the global financial crisis for sales, profit margins, prices and capital spending. The members’ outlook for next three months on these measures as well as for wages and employment has also worsened, according to NABE.
“The April 2020 NABE Business Conditions Survey represents a very different world than the one we inhabited during the last survey in January,” says NABE President Constance Hunter, CBE, chief economist, KPMG. “The outlook for inflation-adjusted gross domestic product (real GDP) in 2020 reversed sharply, with 86% of respondents expecting a contraction and only 14% predicting some positive growth.”
Other highlights from the survey:
- For the first time since the 2007-2009 recession, more respondents reported falling sales than rising sales at their firms in the previous three months.
- Significantly more respondents report falling profit margins at their firms in the first quarter of 2020 than in the previous decade.
- The share of respondents reporting skilled and unskilled labor shortages declined signi cantly from the January 2020 survey results; both measures decreased by more than half.
- Sixty-three percent of respondents indicate their firms have imposed a hiring freeze in response to challenges from the COVID-19 virus.
- Overall, one-third of respondents report their operations are “severely impacted,” including 2% that report a “full suspension of operations.”
- Three-quarters of respondents indicate their firms can “stay afloat” for longer than six months without federal assistance.
- Forty-six percent of all respondents replied “no” to seeking federal assistance through the recently passed stimulus packages.
For the entire report, visit: www.nabe.com
