67% of U.S. Businesses Still Negatively Affected by Covid
The United States Census Bureau recently released the results of their ongoing Small Business Pulse Survey. The target population of the survey is single-location businesses with less than 500 employees. The Census Bureau, which began the survey shortly after the Coronavirus pandemic began in early 2020, releases an updated survey with new results weekly.
The most recent week’s result indicates that 67% of businesses continue to be negatively affected by the pandemic, with 24% reporting a largely negative effect, while 43% reported a moderate negative effect.
Though the majority of businesses are still experiencing negative effects of the Coronavirus, some of the latest results are encouraging, with only 13% of respondents indicating that they need to obtain financial assistance or additional capital, down from nearly 25% at this time last year. The number of businesses experiencing a revenue decrease is also lower, with 24.7% of businesses experiencing a revenue decrease, down from 31.2% from a year ago.
Hiring more employees is also on the minds of many small business owners, with almost 40% of respondents indicating that they need to identify and hire new employees, up from 23% a year ago.
From the beginning of the pandemic, the sectors that have been negatively impacted the most include the foodservice and hospitality industry, with 47.4% reporting that they are still experiencing the negative effects of the pandemic, followed by the arts and entertainment industries, educational services, and oil and gas experiencing severe impacts as well.
When asked how much time will pass before their business returns to normal, most businesses still see complete recovery more than six months in the future.
For more information on the survey, and to see the complete results, visit the United States Census Small Business Pulse Survey website.
AUTHOR: Mary Girsch-Bock – CPA PRACTICE ADVISOR
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