SoCal small-businesses split on state of economy, survey finds
Owners of Southern California small businesses are mixed on the state of the economy, according to data released Thursday.
About 42% said the economy was recovering, and 48% said the nation was still in a recession, according to the U.S. Bank Small Business Annual Survey. More than two-thirds of the business owners said they were unlikely to make a capital expenditure in the next year.
In Southern California, 64% of respondents characterized their financial health as “good,” and 46% said they expect higher revenues in the next year.
“Businesses have healthy balance sheets, which is a good reason to be optimistic about future job growth when conditions contributing to this economic uncertainty improve,” said Sean Foley, regional president for U.S. Bank in Southern California.
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Still, about 54% of respondents said they don’t expect higher revenues next year, according to the study. Nationwide, 59% said they anticipate lower revenues in 2014.
The federal budget deficit ranked highest among the concerns of those in the survey, followed by unemployment, taxes and healthcare.
The survey polled about 3,200 owners of small businesses, including 201 in Southern California, that pulled in $10 million or less in annual revenue during the first quarter of 2013.
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