Inc. Tanc. 4Q Survey Shows Concern Rising

More business leaders are concerned about the economy than in the third quarter, worries over fuel prices have eased substantially and opinion is mixed about the election of Barack Obama as the 44th President of the United States.

Those are the results of the Inc. Tanc. survey for the fourth quarter.

The survey, dubbed Inc. Tanc as a play on the term “Think Tank,” is a partnership between Arkansas Business (sister publication to the Northwest Arkansas Business Journal) and MarketSearch (a division of the Mangan Holcomb ad agency of Little Rock).

Forty percent of businesses expect salaries will freeze, compared to 29 percent in the third quarter. “The economy” remained the most pressing problem, rising from 64 percent of responses in the third quarter to 77 percent in the fourth.

Fuel prices, which were still high in the third quarter, was the third-ranked problem, dropping from 40 percent of responses to just 15 percent in the fourth quarter.

Health care costs rose slightly as a concern, up to 24 percent from 21 percent.

The question about whether Obama’s election would be good for Arkansas earned a 37 percent “yes” response, 33 percent said “no” and 21 percent were undecided.

Only 34 percent of businesses expect the economy to remain stable in 2009, with a growth range of plus or minus 3 percent.

There was good news for employees expecting bonuses to end 2008. Eighty percent of companies who offer year-end incentives said they will pay some level of bonus in 2008.