— Fewer Milwaukee businesses expect to see year-over-year sales increases for the third quarter, according to the latest MMAC survey.
The Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce’s Business Outlook Survey found 56 percent of surveyed businesses expect real sales to rise in the third quarter of this year compared to the same period of 2022. That’s fallen from 60 percent in the second quarter. And 20 percent expect third-quarter sales to decline, while 24 percent expect no change.
These and other results suggest “apprehension toward economic growth” in the Milwaukee area, MMAC says in its release. The group’s economic research director, Bret Mayborne, says national “economic headwinds” such as price inflation and higher interest rates are holding back growth.
“This has led locally to an economic trend that has been riding the fence, between continued growth on the one hand versus stagnation on the other,” he said in a statement. “The third-quarter business outlook results reflect this tension.”
Still, manufacturers and smaller companies expressed greater confidence about boosting sales in the third quarter, MMAC found. Sixty-three percent of manufacturing companies expect to see third quarter sales increases compared to the previous third quarter, compared to 51 percent of non-manufacturers.
And 61 percent of companies with fewer than 100 employees expect third-quarter sales to rise, versus 51 percent for larger businesses.
Meanwhile, profit expectations across all surveyed businesses “rose modestly,” MMAC notes. A total of 51 percent expect profits to rise year-over-year in the third quarter, compared to the 49 percent that predicted profit gains in the second quarter. And 22 percent expect third-quarter profits to fall, while 28 percent expect no change.
MMAC also found expectations for 2023 overall have fallen dramatically from the start of the year. The percentage of respondents expecting real sales increases this year has fallen from 70 percent at the beginning of the year, to 49 percent in the latest survey.
At the same time, the percentage of respondents predicting profits to rise this year has fallen from 63 percent to 53 percent.
The online survey includes responses from 70 businesses in the Milwaukee area that collectively employ more than 19,000 people.
See more results: https://www.wisbusiness.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/3Q23-Business-Outlook-Survey.pdf
— Worker’s compensation insurance rates will once again decline this year, with companies paying 8.4 percent less overall in premiums starting in October.
The state Department of Workforce Development yesterday announced the change, which is expected to save employers in the state about $148 million on policies starting on or after Oct. 1.
These rates are adjusted each year through a process that involves the Wisconsin Compensation Rating Bureau and the Office of the Commissioner of Insurance. The WCRB’s Actuarial Subcommittee uses an outside actuary to develop the rates “based on a complex array of factors,” according to a DWD spokesperson.
Once approved by the WCRB Governing Committee, the rates are filed with OCI, which then sends them to an actuary for review.
DWD noted in yesterday’s release that while the overall rate level will decline by 8.4 percent, the impact of specific businesses will vary.
According to the agency, 2023 marks the eighth year in a row that worker’s compensation insurance premiums are falling. The decline was 8.47 percent in 2022, 5.44 percent in 2021, 0.93 percent in 2020, 8.84 percent in 2019, 6.03 percent in 2018, 8.46 percent in 2017, and 3.19 percent in 2016.
See this year’s letter from the WCRB: https://www.wcrb.org/circulars/CircularLetters2023/CIRCULAR_LETTER_3254_July_24_2023_10_1_23__Rate_Revision..pdf
See the DWD release: https://dwd.wisconsin.gov/press/2023/230731-wc-premiums.htm
— Total farm production expenses in Wisconsin last year reached $14.7 billion, for an increase of more than $3 billion from the prior year.
That’s according to the latest USDA report on farm expenditures, produced by the agency’s National Agricultural Statistics Service.
It shows feed costs rose 48 percent over the year to reach $3.31 billion in 2022. That was the single largest production expense for farmers in the state last year, making up 23 percent of the total amount.
Farm services was the second largest expense at $1.64 billion, making up 11 percent of total expenditures. That total rose 4 percent over the year, the report shows.
Meanwhile, the largest percentage increases over the year included livestock costs — up 70 percent to $510 million — and farm improvements and construction, which rose 57 percent to $960 million. The only expense that declined over the year was trucks and autos, falling 19 percent to $130 million.
See the report: https://www.wisbusiness.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/WI-Farm-Production-Expenditures-07-23.pdf
<br><b><i>Top headlines from the Health Care Report…</b></i>
— GOP lawmakers are circulating a bill to ensure participants in clinical research trials are classified as independent contractors, not employees.
Meanwhile, state health officials are promoting a new helpline for residents designed by the nonprofit Mental Health America of Wisconsin.
<i>For more of the most relevant news on COVID-19, reports on groundbreaking health research in Wisconsin, links to top stories and more, sign up today for the free daily Health Care Report from WisPolitics.com and WisBusiness.com.</i>
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#TOP STORIES#
# Superior refinery still hasn’t resumed full operations
# New Madison Film Festival urges aspiring filmmakers to just do it
# One-time Milwaukee startup star receives prison time for bilking investors out of $6M
#TOPICS#
# AGRIBUSINESS
– Wisconsin monthly crop and livestock prices
http://wisconsinagconnection.com/story-state.php?Id=726&yr=2023
# CONSTRUCTION
– Zignego awarded more than $100M for interstate projects
– New jail projects create more humane spaces
– Despite COVID-19 hits to gaming, Ho-Chunk leaders say Beloit casino plans are moving forward
# ECONOMY
– Wisconsin ranks No. 12 for states to retire in the U.S.
# ENVIRONMENT
– State funding available for wastewater and sewer system projects to eliminate PFAS
– Lake Altoona worries about pollution from former landfill
# FOOD AND BEVERAGE
– New Rock & Brews restaurant by KISS’ Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley opens Tuesday
# FOXCONN REPORTS
– Foxconn could produce ‘millions’ of solar energy components for Enphase in Mount Pleasant
# HEALTH CARE
– Marshfield Clinic sues city for property tax exemption of Eau Claire Campus
# MANUFACTURING
– Why execs predict ‘massive’ future for stalled electric unit at Harley-Davidson’s LiveWire
# MEDIA
– She’s not in Oppenheimer, but this Wisconsin woman worked on the atomic bomb
# POLITICS
– Vice President Kamala Harris will visit Wisconsin to tout broadband and raise money
# REAL ESTATE
– MLG Capital buys Kenosha County apartment complex for nearly $72 million
# SMALL BUSINESS
– Green Bay’s Ferocious Styles Cutz & Hair Design offers haircuts, dreadlock care and community
# SPORTS
– Wisconsin speedskating star ‘destined for great things,’ coach says amid award nomination
– Breese Stevens a site of historic moments and modern revival
# TRANSPORTATION
– Downtown business interests raise questions about I-794’s removal
# PRESS RELEASES
<i>See these and other press releases:
https://www.wisbusiness.com/press-releases/ </i>
Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce: Business Outlook Survey third quarter, 2023
