Page 20 - The South China Business Journal
P. 20
C. TODAY
Five Years of Insights:
What We've Learned from
the Small Business Index
By Thaddeus Swanek, U.S. Chamber of Commerce
This quarter, the MetLife and U.S. Chamber of Commerce
Small Business Index celebrates five years of publication.
As the Index celebrates this milestone, we look back at five
years of small business trends, the major challenges small
business leaders have faced, and how small businesses feel
about the future.
The Small Business Index is a premier tracker of U.S. small
business sentiment and perspectives. The Index reports
are released on a quarterly basis and are compiled
from 750 unique interviews with small business owners
and operators. It delivers a comprehensive quantitative
snapshot of the small business sector.
Small Business Highs and Lows
Despite a challenging economy, the
current Small Business Index score
reached a pandemic-era high of 66.8
this quarter. This is slightly higher
than last quarter’s score of 64.1.
Of course, this quarter’s score is still
some way from the all-time high.
That score, 71.7, was recorded in
Q1 2020, just before the COVID
pandemic began (the survey that
quarter was conducted in January
2020, before any significant
shutdowns in the United States).
The low point for the Index was
reached just one quarter later, Q2 2020, when the score reached 39.5. This also coincided with the first full
quarter in which major shutdowns began in response to the pandemic. Since then, the index has slowly gained
ground despite a significant step back when the Delta variant of COVID-19 emerged in mid-2021.
17 AMCHAM SOUTH CHINA
Five Years of Insights:
What We've Learned from
the Small Business Index
By Thaddeus Swanek, U.S. Chamber of Commerce
This quarter, the MetLife and U.S. Chamber of Commerce
Small Business Index celebrates five years of publication.
As the Index celebrates this milestone, we look back at five
years of small business trends, the major challenges small
business leaders have faced, and how small businesses feel
about the future.
The Small Business Index is a premier tracker of U.S. small
business sentiment and perspectives. The Index reports
are released on a quarterly basis and are compiled
from 750 unique interviews with small business owners
and operators. It delivers a comprehensive quantitative
snapshot of the small business sector.
Small Business Highs and Lows
Despite a challenging economy, the
current Small Business Index score
reached a pandemic-era high of 66.8
this quarter. This is slightly higher
than last quarter’s score of 64.1.
Of course, this quarter’s score is still
some way from the all-time high.
That score, 71.7, was recorded in
Q1 2020, just before the COVID
pandemic began (the survey that
quarter was conducted in January
2020, before any significant
shutdowns in the United States).
The low point for the Index was
reached just one quarter later, Q2 2020, when the score reached 39.5. This also coincided with the first full
quarter in which major shutdowns began in response to the pandemic. Since then, the index has slowly gained
ground despite a significant step back when the Delta variant of COVID-19 emerged in mid-2021.
17 AMCHAM SOUTH CHINA
