|
|
|
| ABOUT | ||
| ||
| ||
| SMALL BUSINESS TRENDS brings you daily updates on trends that influence the global small business market. | ||
|
||
 |
|
Anita Campbell, Editor |
|
||
| Past life: CEO, corporate executive, tech entrepreneur, retailer, general counsel, marketer, HR ... (more) | ||
| email me | |
|
|
||
|
|
|
|
|
 |
||
|
||
| FREE BUSINESS MAGAZINES | ||
|
||
|
||
| Trade publications FREE to qualified professionals. No hidden offers and no purchase necessary. | ||
|
||
| |
On Wall Street The Deal Computing Canada |
CIO Employee Benefit Oracle Magazine |
|
||
| 100+ additional titles. Click to browse. | ||
|
|
|
|
|
| ARCHIVES & SEARCH | |||
|
|||
|
|||
| |
Previous Small Business Trends articles can be found at the links below: | ||
|
|||
| |
October 2003 November 2003 December 2003 January 2004 February 2004 March 2004 April 2004 May 2004 June 2004 July 2004 August 2004 September 2004 October 2004 November 2004 December 2004 January 2005 February 2005 March 2005 April 2005 May 2005 June 2005 July 2005 August 2005 September 2005 October 2005 November 2005 |
||
|
|||
| |
Or, use the search box below to find a specific post: |
||
|
|||
|
|||
|
|
||
|
|
|
| NEWSLETTER |
|
|
|
| Sign up for our FREE Small Business Trends newsletter. (View Current)
We publish regularly and promise we won't share your email address with anyone. (Privacy Policy) |
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
| SMALL BIZ INFO & RESOURCES | |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| BLOGS TO READ DAILY* | |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| * Don’t have time to read several dozen blogs a day? Pick two or three. Your brain will thank you for it. | |
|
|
|
|
| ONLINE COMMUNITIES | ||
|
||
|
||
 |
|
 |
|
||
 |
|
 |
|
||
|
|
|
|
| BLOG DIRECTORIES | ||
|
||
|
||
 |
|
 |
|
||
 |
|
 |
|
|
| THE BUZZ |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
SPECIAL RESOURCES | |
|
|
|
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
Small Business Trends Radio Tuesdays, 1:00 PM Eastern U.S. time on Voice America network Click to listen November 1st: Torsten Jacobi, CEO of Creative Weblogging, joins host Anita Campbell. Sponsored by Six Disciplines. Show details. |
|
|
|
|
|
||
|
|
|
||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Friday, May 13, 2005 | |
|||
|
|||||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Economy Slowing But Conditions Positive for U.S. Small Business | |
||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|||||
|
|
Economic conditions for small business in the U.S. are positive, although they have weakened somewhat since 2004. Higher energy costs and rising interest rates are slowing the economy. Employment, a lagging indicator, is actually still rising nicely. However, this is probably due to employers having held off as long as possible to hire, and now being required to hire to meet customer orders.  What's perhaps more telling is what business owners plan to do in the near future. According to surveys completed over the past five months, the confidence of U.S. small business owners appears to be cooling a bit when it comes to the economy. Fewer small businesses say they plan to expand and/or hire in the upcoming three months. It looks like American small businesses are putting the brakes on somewhat. See the chart to the right where I have summarized some of the data from the U.S. Small Business Administration Office of Advocacy's Economic Indicators Report for the first quarter of 2005. The report came out last week. It may help you forecast economic trends and gauge their impact on the small business market this summer and into the fall. Remember, as always, to put this report in perspective. It doesn't mean the economy in the U.S. is tanking. It simply signals a slowing of the economy after a nice expansion in 2004. |
|
|
|
|
|||||
|
|
| |||
|
|||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||
|
|
More news... more trends... more insight... | |
||
|
|
|
|
||
|
|||||
|
Home | Privacy | Terms | SmallBizTrends |
|
|
|
|
|
(c) Copyright 2003 - 2005, Small Business Trends LLC. All rights reserved. |