By Josh Newell
WASHINGTON (MNI) – Small business owners are reporting that
economic uncertainty is at its highest level since 2011, and
accordingly, only 16% of them expect to hire new employees this year,
the U.S. Chamber of Commerce said Wednesday.
Eighty-four percent of small business owners surveyed said, “They
are pessimistic about their future operations in light of recent
unemployment numbers and low workforce participation”, according to the
Chamber of Commerce’s Q3 Small Business Outlook Study.
Furthermore, 87% of those surveyed said that they want to see more
certainty from Washington, and 72% are “very concerned” about the
“fiscal cliff” situation, up from 65% in the Q2 survey. Only 7% were not
concerned about the fiscal cliff.
Six out of 10 respondents said that the expiration of the Bush era
tax cuts, along with the overall sequestration, “will have a significant
negative impact on their business’s growth.”
The future outlook is looking more pessimistic as well. According
to the survey, “only 15% say they believe the economy will greatly or
somewhat improve over the next two years, which is a decline from 19% in
July.”
The survey was conducted by Harris Interactive and polled over
1,300 small businesses from September 20 to September 27, 2012.
–Joshua Newell is a reporter for Need to Know News in Washington
** MNI Washington Bureau: 202-371-2121 **
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