Small business owners are stressed about inflation, and it’s showing through a National Federation of Independent Business survey that found confidence has dwindled to a 12-year low. 25% of survey respondents said that rising costs due to inflation were their biggest problem.
The survey tracked the small business confidence level at 88.5. This is down almost a point from February and the lowest since December 2012. More than a quarter of participants said they increased average selling prices for the month, and one-third planned more price escalations.
“Small business optimism has reached the lowest level since 2012 as owners continue to manage numerous economic headwinds,” said NFIB Chief Economist Bill Dunkelberg. “Inflation has once again been reported as the top business problem on Main Street, and the labor market has only eased slightly.”
Nearly 40% of survey respondents reported increasing employee wages, up by 3 percentage points. This is in line with a report last week from the Labor Department finding that average hourly pay was up 4.1% from a year ago.
