What cost and financing pressures do businesses report?
Prices paid, prices charged, and negative interest-rate effects.
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The answer
The national snapshot reports higher input prices for 47.1% of businesses and higher prices charged for 17.6%. In the interest-rate question, 28.5% reported reduced profitability during the preceding six months. Future price questions describe expectations.
How to read this finding
These figures are percentages of businesses choosing response categories. They do not measure the average price increase or constitute an inflation index. Input prices, selling prices, and interest-rate effects are different concepts with different question windows.
Core snapshot: reference September 7–20, 2026; collected September 21–October 4; released October 8. Individual question wording governs the two-week, six-month lookback, or six-month outlook window.
How did prices charged change?
In the last two weeks, how did the prices this business charges for its own goods or services change?
| Response | Businesses (%) | Standard error (pp) |
|---|---|---|
| Increased | 17.6 | 0.39 |
| Decreased | 3.8 | 0.17 |
| No change | 78.6 | 0.34 |
How did prices paid change?
In the last two weeks, how did the prices this business pays for goods or services change?
| Response | Businesses (%) | Standard error (pp) |
|---|---|---|
| Increased | 47.1 | 0.27 |
| Decreased | 1.2 | 0.07 |
| No change | 51.6 | 0.25 |
How did interest rates negatively affect the business?
In the last six months, in what ways did changes to interest rates negatively impact this business?
| Response | Businesses (%) | Standard error (pp) |
|---|---|---|
| Decreased profitability | 28.5 | 0.29 |
| Inability to service debt | 4.5 | 0.09 |
| Inability to refinance existing loans | 4.6 | 0.17 |
| Inability to invest in this business | 9.5 | 0.29 |
| Not applicable | 66.8 | 0.30 |
Multiple responses are possible; percentages need not add to 100.
What price changes are expected for goods or services sold?
Six months from now, how do you think the prices this business charges for its own goods or services will have changed?
| Response | Businesses (%) | Standard error (pp) |
|---|---|---|
| Increased | 38.4 | 0.47 |
| Decreased | 4.1 | 0.12 |
| No change | 57.4 | 0.44 |
What price changes are expected for goods or services purchased?
Six months from now, how do you think the prices this business pays for goods or services will have changed?
| Response | Businesses (%) | Standard error (pp) |
|---|---|---|
| Increased | 59.8 | 0.41 |
| Decreased | 1.8 | 0.09 |
| No change | 38.4 | 0.36 |
A practical business conversation
A business evaluating AI should consider the full implementation cost and the outcome it seeks. The survey’s cost context can prompt a budget discussion, but a return calculation requires the business’s own spending, performance, and risk assumptions.
Economic cost pressures are context, not evidence of an AI return on investment.
What this evidence cannot establish
The tables do not report AI spending, loan terms, profit margins, or causal AI savings. General financing responses are not the same as the AI-specific cost barrier.