Nearly half of all businesses in Ohio expect to raise their prices over the next month, according to a recent report from LendingTree.
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Matt Schulz, LendingTree’s Chief Consumer Analyst, said people need to prepare for prices to increase and remain high, including during the holiday shopping season.
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The financial company analyzed data from the United States Census survey of business owners throughout the country. It revealed that, because of inflation and rising supplier costs, nearly one in three businesses expected to raise prices in the near term, but the rate is even higher in Ohio.
In the Buckeye State, nearly 41 percent of businesses say they plan on hiking prices.
“Obviously, when prices rise, money gets tighter and financial margins for error shrink like crazy,” Schulz said. “But the more that you can do to prepare for high prices going forward, the better (because) it’s always far better to prepare for the worst and hope for the best.”
He also said that even if the war in Iran ends soon and the Federal Reserve raises interest rates next month, we won’t see much relief anytime soon, with the changes taking time to filter through the economy.
Instead, Schulz suggested cutting back on costs as much as you can and planning ahead for purchases you may need.
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