{"id":415780,"date":"2026-01-17T18:00:23","date_gmt":"2026-01-17T18:00:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/415780\/"},"modified":"2026-01-17T18:00:23","modified_gmt":"2026-01-17T18:00:23","slug":"businesses-set-to-raise-prices-soon-amid-economic-uncertainty","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/415780\/","title":{"rendered":"Businesses Set to Raise Prices Soon Amid Economic \u2018Uncertainty\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

A majority of small- and medium-sized businesses say they will soon be hiking prices to cope with elevated\u2014though easing\u2014levels of economic \u201cuncertainty\u201d in the U.S.<\/p>\n

According to a recent CEO survey conducted by the executive coaching firm Vistage, 57 percent plan to raise prices over the next three months, and of these, 8 percent anticipate increases of over 10 percent.<\/p>\n

\u201cDespite improving confidence, CEOs remain very conscious of the challenges their businesses face,\u201d Vistage wrote in its report published Wednesday.<\/p>\n

\u201cOverall confidence is rising, not because macroeconomic conditions have improved, but because uncertainty has become more familiar,\u201d chief research officer Joe Galvin told Newsweek.<\/p>\n

Why It Matters<\/p>\n

The annual inflation rate has slowed to 2.7 percent <\/a>from 3 percent in January of last year, and some experts now believe the Federal Reserve\u2019s long-term target of 2 percent could be within reach by the end of 2026. However, prices continue to rise for most consumer goods, adding to the financial strains felt by American households, who are also battling mounting debts and the implications of a labor market slowdown.<\/p>\n

Amid these challenges, consumer confidence declined significantly in the latter half of 2025, according to the Conference Board\u2019s monthly surveys<\/a>, falling to its second-lowest level since January 2021 in December, surpassed only by April\u2019s reading.<\/p>\n

What To Know<\/p>\n

According to Vistage\u2019s survey, with responses from 1,202 small- and medium-sized business (SMB) executives collected between December 2 and December 16, CEO confidence saw a \u201cmodest but meaningful improvement\u201d in the final three months of 2025, with the headline confidence index rising to 88.9 from 81.9 in the third quarter. While representing a significant drop from 100.8 a year prior, Vistage notes that this level of optimism sits well above the three-year average.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis increase does not signal a return to euphoria,\u201d wrote Galvin. \u201cInstead, it reflects a growing acceptance of the conditions CEOs expect to face and a clearer view of both risks and opportunities for their business heading into 2026.\u201d<\/p>\n

Some 69 percent of SMB CEOs expect higher sales revenues in 2026, a 9 percent increase from the third quarter, and 53 percent forecast improved profitability despite ongoing labor and cost pressures.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

This confidence, however, rests partly on the price increases most CEOs anticipate implementing to offset these pressures.<\/p>\n

Among the 57 percent who say they will be hiking prices within the next three months, 8 percent anticipate increases of more than 10 percent, 19 percent expect prices to rise by 7 to 10 percent, 46 percent foresee a 4-to-6 percent increase, and 24 percent are projecting between 1 and 3 percent, while the remaining 3 percent did not specify.<\/p>\n

\u201cCEOs are approaching pricing cautiously but deliberately,\u201d Galvin told Newsweek. \u201cRising costs, from materials and labor to logistics, are driving 57 percent of leaders to plan price increases.\u201d<\/p>\n

He added that CEOs are likely focusing these on \u201cproducts and services where customers are most likely to accept the change, balancing cost recovery with market sensitivity.\u201d<\/p>\n

And despite improving confidence, Vistage writes that CEOs \u201cremain very conscious of the challenges their businesses face,\u201d including staffing issues and \u201ceconomic uncertainty.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nevertheless, companies remain intent on increasing their workforces in 2026. Over half (57 percent) plan to add staff over the next 12 months, up from 48 percent in the third quarter, and only 7 percent expect to cut jobs during this period.<\/p>\n

What People Are Saying<\/p>\n

Vistage chief research officer Joe Galvin wrote: \u201cOne year ago, CEO confidence surged as post-election optimism fueled expectations of pro-business policies, easing inflation, and lower borrowing costs. That enthusiasm faded quickly. Shifting trade policy, rising costs, and uneven demand made planning difficult, sharply lowering confidence in early 2025 before it gradually stabilized.\u201d<\/p>\n

What Happens Next<\/p>\n

While optimism is rising among CEOs, Galvin told Newsweek executives are remaining \u201cvigilant\u201d given the number of growth-disrupting events that could occur in 2026, such as resurgent inflation, interest rate shocks, geopolitical upheaval, job market instability or \u201csudden changes in customer demand.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A majority of small- and medium-sized businesses say they will soon be hiking prices to cope with elevated\u2014though…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":415781,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[45,6095,49,48,13235,46,135,124,1666],"class_list":{"0":"post-415780","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-economy","8":"tag-business","9":"tag-businesses","10":"tag-ca","11":"tag-canada","12":"tag-consumer-spending","13":"tag-economy","14":"tag-inflation","15":"tag-jobs","16":"tag-u-s-economy"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/415780","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=415780"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/415780\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/415781"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=415780"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=415780"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=415780"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}