ZCZC
BCN-06
US-ECONOMY-EMPLOYMENT
US firms trim growth forecasts amid tariffs, worker shortage: survey
WASHINGTON, April 29, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – As they continue to feel the impact
of US trade wars and struggle to find workers, American companies have rolled
back their growth estimates for this year, according to a survey released
Monday.
The US economy will continue to grow but “barely half” of the business
economists surveyed now forecast GDP to expand by more than two percent this
year, “compared to 67% of respondents in the January survey,” according to
the semi-annual survey by the National Association for Business Economics.
Most of the rest expect the economy to grow by 2 percent or less, the
survey showed. The government on Friday reported that the US economy expanded
3.2 percent in the first three months of the year but many economists say
that pace cannot be sustained.
At the same time companies in the NABE survey continue to try to adjust to
the impact of retaliatory tariffs on American goods and to US tariffs on
imports that have raised costs.
“A year after the US first imposed new tariffs on its trading partners in
2018, the recent tariffs have negatively affected more than one-fourth of
respondents’ firms,” NABE President Kevin Swift said in a statement.
But three-quarters of goods-producing firms reported a negative impact,
with 67 percent of manufacturers indicating they had faced higher materials
costs and half have raised prices of their products, the survey showed.
In addition, 42 percent reported negative sales and a third said they had
delayed planned investments.
With the US unemployment rate at historic lows, labor shortages continue
to dog the companies surveyed, prompting nearly half to raise wages or take
other steps to adjust.
Nearly 80 percent of firms said they were having difficulty finding high-
skilled workers, while half face shortages of mid-skill workers.
In the manufacturing sector, 60 percent of firms have raised wages while
half have lowered requirements for new hires.
BSS/AFP/HR/1040