The new survey results from the National Association for Business Economics suggests increased optimism concerning real GDP growth, as well as fewer inflationary or deflationary pressures,” said Dr. Nayantara Hensel, Professor of Industry and Business at National Defense University.
 
“About two-thirds of NABE Industry Survey panelists expect that real GDP will grow at a rate exceeding 2% between the fourth quarter of 2011 and the fourth quarter of 2012. Over 80% of respondents reported unchanged or rising sales and profit margins. The survey results also suggest greater stability in prices.
 
Nearly all respondents expect that non-labor input prices will remain unchanged or rise by 5% or less. Over 70% of respondents reported that wages and salaries have remained unchanged. The share of respondents reporting unchanged prices charged (78%) is the highest share in recent surveys and almost all respondents expect either no change in prices or minor price increases by their companies of 5% or less.
 
Materials costs rose for 31% of respondents and were unchanged for 59% of them, which suggests a continued trend toward greater stability in materials prices. Although the share of respondents expecting increasing employment over the next six months continues to fall relative to prior quarters, almost two-thirds of respondents expect no change in employment— the highest percentage of panelists holding such a view in recent quarters.
 
A greater share of respondents reported rising capital spending in the fourth quarter than the previous quarter, which suggests improvement in the economy. Surprisingly, a significant share of the respondents are not overly concerned about the impact on their businesses of the European debt crisis, the payroll tax cut, or the Super Committee’s lack of success in developing debt reduction plans.”