Labor and supply shortages and inflation are of top concern for Orange County business executives, according to a quarterly outlook report from economists at California State University, Fullerton.
Twenty percent predict the Federal Reserve will start raising short-term interest rates by the end of this year while almost 35% see the boost happening by March 2022, according to the economists led by Anil Puri, director of CSUF’s Woods Center for Economic Analysis and Forecasting.
The overall Orange County business expectations index, OCBX, dipped to 89.6 for the final three months of the year, starting Friday, from 96.4 in the previous quarter. A reading of above 50 indicates expectations of future growth in the economy.
The CSUF survey was conducted from Sept. 20 to Sept. 28 among more than 900 local business executives.
