Small businesses are at their lowest point in over a decade – several challenges
Jack Kelly ’24, May 22, “Small Businesses, Which Employ More Than 60 Million U.S. Workers, Are Losing Confidence,” FORBES, accessed July 18, 2024, https://www.forbes.com/sites/jackkelly/2024/04/26/small-businesses-are-losing-confidence/
Small businesses in the United States are facing a perfect storm of high inflation, rising costs, labor shortages and reduced consumer demand, all of which are creating significant challenges for this segment of the economy. As a result, the optimism of small business owners has plunged to its lowest level since December 2012, according to recent data by the National Federation of Independent Business, a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that advocates for small and independent businesses in the U.S.
The Small Business Optimism Index plummeted to 88.5, dropping 0.09 of a point, in March, marking the 27th consecutive month the index fell short of the 50-year average of 98.