Rockford Sun

The Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago and the Michigan Manufacturing Technology Center in May released a survey to measure the impact that the COVID-19 pandemic has had on businesses affiliated with the organizations, the Fed said in June.

The "Chicago Fed Survey of Business Conditions" examination questioned the influence the pandemic has had on the companies and the impact it might have on the future of these businesses, The Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago said in a June news release.  

"The questionnaire was similar to an earlier survey we conducted in collaboration with chambers of commerce in the five Seventh District states (Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan and Wisconsin)," the Federal Reserve Bank said in the release. "All survey respondents were from manufacturing companies and the responses were collected between May 20 and June 5, 2020."

Results from the survey indicated that most operations have seen a decrease in revenue compared to what those businesses had expected to receive.

"This led to large reductions in employment and capital spending," the Federal Reserve Bank said in the news release. "A majority of those who had seen lower-than-expected revenues stated that demand had stopped dropping and had either bottomed out or was picking up."

Almost all of the respondents also made changes to the way their business operated as a response to the coronavirus pandemic as well. Most of the changes didn't have much of an effect on business costs or capacity.

Most also have concerns about the finances of their businesses, according to the press release, and 75% of them expected the U.S. economy to return to normal by the end of 2021.

Other results of the Chicago Fed Survey of Business Conditions report showed that 2% of businesses permanently stopped operating; 28% temporarily closed and 70% continued operating.