A new survey reveals that over two-thirds of small business owners are terrified of the state of the economy under Joe Biden’s watch, fearing that current conditions and ongoing downward trends will lead to them having to close their businesses.
As reported by the Daily Caller, the poll from the Job Creators Network Foundation (JCNF) shows that 67% of small business owners maintain such fears about the economy as it stands today, marking a 10-point increase from sentiments two years ago. In the same poll, participants’ perceptions of economic conditions for their own businesses fell from 70.2 to 68.1. Perception of national conditions fell even more drastically, from 53.2 to 50.4.
In addition to the ongoing economic woes, small business owners also feel overwhelmingly impacted by the rise of crime. In the same survey, 44% of business owners say that crime has gone up in their area. The respondents who were most likely to say crime has increased in their area are the business owners generating less than $100,000 per year, at 55%. Those who generate over $1 million in revenue were less likely to say crime has increased.
Inflation also remains a top concern for business owners, with 49% ranking inflation as the top issue in May, compared to 48% in March. Overall inflation remains stubbornly high, coming in at 3.4% in April. The inflation rate has consistently remained above 3% since Joe Biden first took office.
“Small businesses are more vulnerable to high taxes and costly regulatory environments compared to their large corporate counterparts,” said Elaine Parker, president of the JCNF.
“That’s why it’s no surprise that 26% of small businesses say they’ve considered relocating to a different state or city to chase more favorable tax rates and escape government red tape. This is an opportunity for free-market minded governors to continue making their states stand out from the crowd by implementing pro-growth policy reforms that will ignite Main Street.”
Forbes estimates that at least 46% of all employees in the United States, around 61.6 million people in total, are employed by small businesses.
