Washington: American companies ended the year on a strong note but are worried about resurging Covid-19 infections, although supply issues are expected to ease, according to a survey released Monday.
Just over one third of company economists cited spiking Covid-19 cases as the biggest downside risk to the outlook, ahead of rising prices, the National Association for Business Economics (NABE) said in its quarterly Business Conditions Survey.
Inflation has become a growing concern for US consumers and businesses throughout 2021, fueled in part by global shortages and transportation snags.
NABE said about two-thirds of firms reported rising sales in the final quarter of 2021, in line with the last three surveys, and among the highest in the survey’s 40-year history.
And nearly two-thirds of respondents said sales at their firms returned to pre-crisis volumes.
“The positive results and outlook come despite clearly visible shortages, particularly labor shortages,”; survey chair Jan Hogrefe said.
NABE found 57 percent of respondents faced skilled labor shortages — 10 points more than the October survey — while nearly one-quarter struggled to find unskilled labor, compared to just 11 percent previously.
“Both shortages have grown steadily more widespread over the past year,”; said Hogrefe, who is also the chief economist of Boeing Commercial Airplanes.
Almost a third of respondents expect labor shortages to continue into 2023 or later.
In contrast, only 11 percent of firms saw supply chain problems persisting next year, while a similar share viewed those issues as their main downside risk. Opinions varied over when the problems would end.
