Regional Matters

The Richmond Fed business surveys, like other surveys, find that firms are facing tightened credit conditions. However, most surveyed firms, regardless of size, have not needed to seek new credit.

Since the second half of 2022, we have observed firms increasingly pulling back on capital expenditures. This post explores the recent declines in capital investment using data from The CFO Survey and the Richmond Fed monthly business surveys.

Fifth District firms have experienced faster price growth since 2021. Increased uncertainty coincided with firms adjusting their own prices more frequently than before the COVID-19 pandemic.

February's monthly business surveys show that businesses, for the most part, are optimistic about their firms' prospects but less optimistic about the U.S. economy.

Following two years of tight housing market conditions in the Fifth District, indicators suggest that markets are cooling although affordability remains an issue.

$440 million in competitive economic development grants from the 2021 American Rescue Plan Act have arrived in the Fifth District where the funds are expected to have an outsized impact in rural areas.