Small business owners across the United States claim that the country is already in a recession.
According to the recent poll conducted by Rasmussen-McLaughlin, the majority of US small business owners believe that the country is facing a “recession” which the Biden administration is continuously denying.
The poll revealed that the business owners believe that this is the case as small business optimism remains near an all-time low.
In the poll conducted conducted from Aug. 5 to 28, it was revealed that “overall, 57% of small business owners believed the U.S. was in a recession, with reports of recession generally increasing the lower the business’ revenue,” the Dailycaller reported.
“In August, 82% of employers stated that they had either raised prices or would raise prices as a consequence of inflation, up 4 percentage points from 78% in July,” it added.
In a statement released by Elaine Parker, president of the Job Creators Network Foundation, in a statement, she claimed that the “U.S. economy is on shaky ground as Mainstreet continues to face rising prices, labor shortages, government red tape, and big tax burdens.”
“The latest blow comes in the form of the misnamed Inflation Reductions Act—legislation that will raise taxes on job creators, pick winners and losers with ‘green’ subsidies, fuel even higher inflation, and sic the IRS on small businesses. Despite efforts by the White House to spin the bill as a ‘win,’ small business owners understand it’s a raw deal for America.” Parker added.
Moreover, according to the survey’s Small Business Intelligence Quotient, which measures overall business optimism, from last July’s peak of 63.5, it declined to an all-time low of 52.9 out of 100, which is down over 10 points.
In addition, the surging prices for gas has also remained a pain point for small business owners, with 46% of small business owners claiming that the increase in gas prices has a negative impact on profits.
In the report released by The Wall Street Journal, “the low optimism and concerns regarding a recession and inflation come as Federal Reserve officials seem more and more likely to raise interest rates by 0.75% as part of the Fed’s ongoing efforts to combat inflation.”
Furthermore, in response to the crisis, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell declared that the Fed would “continue its restrictive policies until the job is done.”
