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Between rising grocery and fuel costs, increasing debt levels, and shrinking savings, people are having a hard time seeing overall economic growth reflected in their bank accounts. Our recent research with CNBC showed that “vibration” It grips many people, and now it seems these sentiments resonate with small business owners as well.
Latest CNBC|SurveyMonkey Small Business Survey Q2 2024 It shows that small business owners feel little impact from stock market rises and worry about being left behind by policymakers who care more about what happens on Wall Street than what happens on Main Street.
Inflation has been a major concern for small business owners since the beginning of the pandemic. In the first quarter of 2024, small business owners showed cautious signs of optimism about inflation finally subsiding. Confidence in the Fed’s ability to control inflation reached its highest level in two years at 35%. But with Latest government inflation data Prices appear to rise again more than expected, Small business confidence in the Fed It is back to previous lows from our quarterly survey in 2023, at 31%.
The stock market rally in 2024 was very beneficial for investors, who benefited from gains in chip stocks such as Nvidia, whose valuation briefly surpassed $2 trillion, and AMD, which was valued at more than $300 billion for the first time. Even the slowdown in the IPO market in recent years has begun to improve, with… Reddit successful IPO and Rubric offer Both are signs of growing optimism. But our research found that small business owners weren’t among those experiencing recent market windfalls.
A majority of small business owners surveyed (64%) say they received no benefits from this year’s stock market performance. In fact, few believe Wall Street has had a positive (17%) or negative (15%) impact on their business. It’s not that Wall Street is hurting small businesses. It simply does not exist in their daily lives.
The CNBC/SurveyMonkey poll was conducted online April 8-12, 2024 among a national sample of 2,130 small business owners ages 18 and older.
Where Democratic and Republican small business owners agree
In general, small businesses express little confidence in current business policies and policy making. Nearly three-quarters of respondents (73%) believe that these policies favor large companies, not small ones. Small business owners of both political affiliations largely agree on this point: 79% of Republicans and 71% of Democratic small business owners and independents agree that business policies favor large companies over small businesses.
When it comes to business policy making, most small business owners (86%) agree that they have little say in the matter. Again, this sentiment is shared across party lines: 91% of Republican business owners worry about not having a voice in business policy making, as do 82% of Democrats and 88% of independents. This is despite the fact that 99% of all businesses in the United States are small businesses.
In today’s politically polarized environment, it’s rare for small business owners from opposing parties to agree on much of anything. In our study, Republican and Democratic small business owners agreed on very little. For example, 64% of Democratic small business owners claim the economy is doing “good or excellent,” while 60% of Republican small business owners say the economy is doing “poor.”
Having these polarized groups expressing the same concerns highlights the seriousness of the issue. The lack of voice in policy making is not just a partisan concern. Small business owners are the bedrock of the economy. Understanding their priorities and concerns is critical for policymakers and leaders to make informed, data-driven decisions that meet the needs of their constituents.