A national survey of small businesses finds 22% of owners report inflation is their single most important problem. NFIB state director Dawn McVea says inflation is affecting every business, regardless of size and it’s cutting into profits
“One of the biggest issues that we do see reported is that they’re not reporting higher profits. Thirty-six percent of owners have blamed weaker sales and 16 percent blame it on the cost of material and another 14 percent blame it on labor cost.”
McVea says 93%of owners who are trying to hire, report few or no qualified applicants.
“They still have to try to attract workers, try to attract people and get them to stay and the labor issue continues to be another problem.”
Owners expecting better business conditions over the next six months deteriorated by one point. McVea says spending and plans to spend by small business owners remains weak. She says lower borrowing costs could help restore growth for owners.
“If we can see a decrease in interest rates hopefully that can then translate to better opportunities for small business owners to get out there borrow money if they need it or go an invest in their business.”
The Federal Reserve has indicated a cut to rates could occur next year.
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