Year-ahead inflation expectations among businesses in the southeast U.S. edged slightly lower in the month of April, according to the results of a survey released by the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta on Wednesday.
The survey found that firms\' year-ahead unit cost expectations slipped to 2.3 percent in April from 2.4 percent in March.
The Atlanta Fed noted year-ahead unit cost expectations have fallen meaningfully since hitting a peak of 3.8 percent in April 2022 but remain somewhat elevated relative to their pre-pandemic average of 2.0 percent.
Meanwhile, the survey found that sales levels and profit margins continue to run below what firms consider to be normal.