Rising oil prices and interest rates, as well as the political wrangling over the federal budget and debt, have not seriously hampered corporate economists’optimism about future economic growth. This is according to the latest survey by the National Association for Business Economics (NABE).

About 42% of respondents reported rising sales at their companies, which was up from 35% in the previous survey in July. Just 12% of them reported falling sales, down from 15% in the second quarter.

One-third of respondents reported rising margins at their companies. That was the highest share in more than a year.

When it comes to hiring, though, the economists were not so upbeat. Just 27% said jobs would be added in the third quarter. And expectations for increased payrolls slipped from 39% in the second quarter to 37%.

Some 70% of the 60 economists polled expect gross domestic product (GDP) growth of 2% to 3% in the next year, while nearly 20% put GDP growth at 1% to 2%. Those figures were little changed from the results in the second quarter.

“Results from NABE’s October 2013 Industry Survey suggest the economy continues to expand at a moderate pace,” said Timothy Gill, chair of the NABE Industry Survey Committee. Gill also said:

The survey results indicate no net effect on sales from higher long-term interest rates in the third quarter, but do show a measurable net negative effect on sales from rising oil prices and on employment in advance of forthcoming Affordable Care Act (ACA) provisions. Notwithstanding their guardedly optimistic forecast for real GDP growth, panelists anticipate these factors will exert heightened drag moving forward.

The NABE survey was conducted between September 16 and October 1, 2013, largely before to the partial shutdown of the federal government. See the full survey results.

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