Respondents anticipated stronger growth in real gross domestic product (GDP) over the year ahead, according to a National Association for Business Economics (NABE) survey released Monday.
NABE President Manuel Balmaseda, who is also chief economist at CEMEX, noted that results of the April NABE Business Conditions Survey showed that conditions continued to improve during the first quarter of 2021.
"Two thirds of panelists indicate that the vaccine rollout and the new administration have had a positive impact on their view of the economy," said Balmaseda.
Ninety-five percent of panelists anticipated real GDP to expand by at least 3 percent from the first quarter of 2021 through the first quarter of 2022, according to the survey. The U.S. economy saw a 3.5-percent contraction in 2020 amid the pandemic.
Hiring grew more prevalent for a third consecutive quarter, while the shares of respondents indicating shortages in skilled labor, intermediate inputs, raw material, and capital goods were larger compared to those in the January survey. Fifty-four percent of respondents reported no shortages of inputs in the first quarter of 2021, smaller than the 56 percent in the January survey, the latest survey showed.
Nearly half (48 percent) of respondents reported that sales had already returned to their normal level of operations, up from 32 percent in January, the survey showed. Twenty-one percent expected this to occur by the end of 2021.
In addition, respondents' views regarding the Biden administration's proposed American Jobs Plan (AJP) - a 2-trillion-dollar proposal that focuses on infrastructure and beyond - and its impact on the economy differed more broadly.
Forty-one percent said the plan would have a positive impact, while nearly a quarter (24 percent) indicated the plan would have negative effects on the economy, according to the survey.
