PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — A third of local businesses are predicting slightly less favorable business conditions in 2025, according to the Philadelphia Federal Reserve Bank’s annual Chamber of Commerce for Greater Philadelphia Economic Outlook Survey.
Philadelphia area businesses tend to be an optimistic bunch, according to Fed outreach economist Ryo Tashiro. So it was a departure this year when 29% of Philadelphia businesses said they expect business conditions in 2025 to get worse — nearly as many as the 33% who expect business conditions to get better.
“The level of optimism is actually a pretty low level, relative to where this question was over the last 10 years,” Tashiro said.
Tashiro says the responses are in line with macroeconomic data that show a cooling economy.
Researchers cited factors including poor sales. Businesses’ top concerns were labor costs and interest rates.
“Some of these are kind of the usual suspects,” said Tashiro, “but one issue that came up this year in particular was this uncertainty about regulation and government policies.”
That could be a reflection of worries caused by President-elect Donald Trump’s proposal to raise tariffs on goods from the country’s largest trading partners, which would increase prices for businesses and consumers.
Tashiro adds, concerns about inflation are down, because the economy is cooling, but that likely is also driving the lower expectations for this year.