One quarter of Orange County business executives expect to see the Federal Reserve’s benchmark interest rate topping 4% by the end of this year, according to University of California, Fullerton economists led by Anil Puri.
The federal funds rate had been near zero at the start of the year, but the Fed has since raised it to a range between 3% and 3.25% to tame inflation, with more increases expected to come.
The CSUF economists, in their quarterly OC business outlook for the final three months of the year, said executives’ overall OCBX expectations index has risen slightly to 63.9. A reading above 50 indicates future growth in the economy.
A little more than two-thirds of those surveyed say inflation is their No. 1 concern.
The CSUF survey was conducted from Sept. 17 to 27.
