Business owners, economists, and American families are worried that the U.S. economy is heading towards a recession.

The National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) Survey’s Small Business Optimism Index dropped in March, leaving it below the 48-year average for a third consecutive month.

Key Findings:

• Inflation: The highest percentage of business owners in history report having to increase prices on American consumers at 72 percent.

• Plummeting Optimism: Optimism plummeted to record lows, with the percentage of business owners expecting better business conditions over the next six months decreasing to just less than half of all surveyed – the lowest level ever recorded.

• Worker Shortage: Despite business owners now reporting inflation as a bigger problem than job openings, 47 percent of owners still have job openings that they can’t fill.

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READ: Small Businesses Juggle Inflation, Unfilled Jobs, Plummeting Optimism in Biden’s Economy

Key Background:

• The March Consumer Price Index showed prices surging 8.5 percent from a year earlier – the highest increase in 40 years, which hits low-income Americans hardest.
• With more than 60 percent of Main Street businesses reporting they’re having to raise prices to keep up with inflation, economists are warning the U.S. is at risk of a wage-price spiral.
• Despite 40-year high inflation, President Biden’s latest budget proposal includes tax hikes that hit working families and Main Street job creators hardest.
• Small businesses pass rising costs onto consumers, and a recent poll found that 62 percent of American families’ incomes can’t keep up. In fact, families’ incomes have fallen for seven straight months under President Biden.