Economic activity in St. Louis region remains flat

ST. LOUIS — Economic activity remains flat in the St. Louis region.

Chuck Gascon, senior economist with the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, described the overall outlook as “slightly pessimistic.”

“Not a lot of businesses (are) telling us that they’re actively hiring. Again, some of that has to do with just uncertainty in the outlook, but then also just higher labor costs that firms are facing,” Gascon told KMOX Radio. “Insurance is something that comes up a lot. Health insurance costs have gone up more than anticipated, and businesses have to figure out how to offset some of those higher costs. You know, either with slower pay growth or just reducing their expansion plans.”

Getting a loan is also pricier for companies these days.

“If people and businesses are looking to access capital, it’s available,” Gascon said. “It’s just a matter of whether they’re willing to pay the price or whatever that interest rate is, and many contacts (say) those interest rates are still too high for some of the projects that (they have) penciled out.”

Gascon also said business contacts in the food industry are concerned about the higher cost of inputs, such as beef.

KMOX Radio in St. Louis authored this report.

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