Finance leaders have raised their forecasts for both unit cost growth and price growth in 2026 while lowering expectations for economic growth over the next year, according to the latest CFO Survey from Duke University's Fuqua School of Business and the Federal Reserve Banks of Richmond and Atlanta. The survey, conducted between May 18 and June 5 among 530 finance executives, found that CFOs raised their projections for unit cost growth and price growth by 1.1 percentage points compared with the previous quarter, and lowered their outlook for real GDP growth over the next four quarters to 1.8%, down from 2.1%. Roughly two-thirds of respondents said higher oil prices have increased their firms' unit costs, yet only about one-third said they have responded by raising prices charged to customers. In a hypothetical scenario where oil averaged $120 per barrel through the end of the year, CFOs indicated they would pass through substantially more of their costs, with average expectations for unit cost growth rising to 7.3% and expected price growth reaching 6.7%, suggesting a pass-through rate of roughly 90%.