Small Businesses Show Growing Signs of Caution About the Future

Staffing levels and investment plateau, as concerns about inflation grow.

Read The Q3 2021 Report

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Q3 2021 Report Highlights

Q3 2021 SBI:56.6

This quarter’s Small Business Index score is 56.6, down from last quarter (60.0 in Q2), but in line with the beginning of the year (55.9 in Q1 2021).

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Highlights from the q1 2021 report

50%

of small businesses say it is difficult to recruit and hire enough employees to fill open positions

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34%

of small business owners say the U.S. economy is in good health: higher than any point since the pandemic began.

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72%

of small businesses say they find it difficult to manage higher costs due to inflation as they work to recover from the pandemic.

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50%

of small businesses say it is difficult to recruit and hire enough employees to fill open positions

Learn More

34%

of small business owners say the U.S. economy is in good health: higher than any point since the pandemic began.

Learn More

72%

of small businesses say they find it difficult to manage higher costs due to inflation as they work to recover from the pandemic.

Learn More

The Data Explorer

Use the Data Explorer to browse and analyze years of data from the Small Business Index.

The Data Explorer contains data going back to 2017 (when the Index began) on the 10 big survey questions covering views of the economy, hiring, investment and other key economic indicators.

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Q3 2021 • SBI 56.6