Data on small business openings and employment from Homebase, which provides scheduling and time tracking software for businesses, show that small business employment and openings worsened over the past week, after plateauing for much of June. The Homebase data showed a nearly 40 percent improvement for small business activity in May; across all of June, that fell to 6 percent. That is a pattern economists have been dreading, and a departure from the “rocket ship” recovery that President Trump promised in June. A significant share of small businesses have still not reopened, even as states increasingly lift restrictions on their operations, suggesting some of them may be shuttered for good. By many measures, business activity and employment remains down by a quarter or more from pre-crisis levels.

Source: New York Times July 01, 2020 15:56 UTC