The US Chamber of Commerce, in conjunction with MetLife, has released its latest Small Business Index (SBI) for Q2 2024. The SBI is a survey of small businesses nationwide on numerous topics that have been impacting them during the past few months, including fiscal issues and operational challenges.
According to the quarterly survey, the SBI hit its highest score since early 2020, demonstrating a sense of optimism about the future business climate. The index score jumped to 69.5 from 62.3 last quarter. Seventy-three percent of small businesses expect their revenue to increase in the next year, which is the highest reading recorded since 2017. Nearly half (46 percent) say they expect to increase investment in the next year, up 10 percentage points from last quarter (and just one percentage point lower than its all-time high in Q4 2022).
Once again, 55 percent of small businesses report that their largest concern continues to be inflation—for the eighth straight quarter. However, revenue remains the second biggest challenge for small businesses at a distant 26 percent. This is the third consecutive quarter where revenue ranked as the second biggest challenge.
Interestingly, technology is at the forefront of small business owners’ minds, as the report shows that 71percent of small businesses believe that hiring workers with AI skills will save them time in the long run. Gen Z- and millennial-owned small businesses (52 percent) are much more likely to report they are very familiar with AI compared to Gen X-owned (36 percent) and baby boomer and older-owned (19 percent) small businesses.
Other key findings:
- 36 percent of small businesses say the US economy is in good health this quarter
- 67 percent of small businesses report that the overall health of their business is good, unchanged from last quarter
- 22 percent of small businesses say they have increased staff in the past year, up slightly from last quarter
The full report is available here.
Visit uschamber.com for more information.
[07.02.24]