Service Employment Rises While Activity Remains Largely Unchanged, KC Fed Survey

Posted August 28, 2023

Tenth District services activity remained flat in August, unchanged from July, and firms expect to see growth at a modest rate in the coming months, according to the Tenth District August 2023 Services Survey.

The month-over-month services composite index was -1 in August, unchanged from -1 in July and a large decrease when compared to a year ago with an August index of 5.

Employment increased from an index of -4 to 4 in August while part-time and temporary employment experienced a decrease.

Employee wages saw an increase from multiple firms surveyed.

Approximately one-third of firms reported wages increased by less than 5 percent or did not change in the last year while nearly one-third of firms reported a 6 to 10 percent increase and nearly one-third reported an 11 to 20 percent increase. Expectations for wages lead to further increases as half of firms expect wages to increase by less than 5 percent and another third of firms expect a 6 to 20 percent increase. However, 22 percent expect wages to decrease or stay the same.

Prices are also on the rise, 38 percent of firms surveyed said prices for their products or services increased by 6 to 10 percent since the beginning of the year accompanied by expectations of prices continuing to go up in the next year.

View the full survey, here.