Two-thirds of U.S. small business owners fear that a continuation of President Joe Biden's economic policies will force them to shut down, according to a new poll first reported by the Daily Caller.
The Job Creators Network Foundation found that 67% of small business owners are concerned that the present state of the economy may force them into close, a 10-point jump since 2022. Nearly half of respondents said higher prices and inflation were their top concerns at 49%, followed by the overall economy at 34% and general operating costs at 26%.
Elaine Parker, president of the JCNF, told the Daily Caller that small businesses tend to be "more vulnerable to high taxes and costly regulatory environments compared to their large corporate counterparts."
"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," Parker said. "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."
About 46% of Americans (61.7 million people) are employed by a small business, according to the U.S. Small Business Administration Office of Advocacy.
The JCNF poll was mostly split evenly across regions in the U.S., with 79% of respondents having nine or fewer employees, 10% having 10 to 19, and 11% having 20 to 499.
The Biden administration in April took credit for a "small business boom," saying in a statement: "Every time someone starts a new small business, it's an act of hope and confidence in our economy" and adding that "the historic growth in business applications has coincided with the strongest labor market in decades."
The JCNF poll, conducted by John McLaughlin and Scott Rasmussen, was a national survey of 400 small business employers May 2-19. The margin of error is 4.9%.
James Morley III ✉
James Morley III is a writer with more than two decades of experience in entertainment, travel, technology, and science and nature.
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