Updated
August 14, 2026
Published
February 27, 2023
This Week's Highlights
- Main Street Headwinds: Small businesses continue to struggle with high prices and a majority believe costs will rise.
- 2026 Outlook: Expectations for increased revenues, re-investment, and hiring increase among Main Street employers.
- Summary: Year over year profitability remains steady for small businesses and plans for investment and employee growth pick up.
Optimism is inching upward among small businesses. Small employers are relying more on existing employees to plow forward through uncertainty towards higher profitability.
Tariff Refund FAQ Guide: Visit this guide for information to help small businesses identify whether they paid IEEPA‑based tariffs and prepare for the emerging refund process.
Navigating the New Tax Law: Don't miss our practical guide to maximizing savings for small businesses under the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act.”
ICYMI: As the United States celebrates its 250th anniversary, U.S. Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Suzanne P. Clark unveiled a bold vision for how the business community can help shape the nation’s next chapter. Watch here.
Is your small business a member of the U.S. Chamber? As the nation's leading small business advocacy organization, we can help you with exclusive intelligence and access, a Policy Help Desk, regular updates on economic and business trends, and more.
New Small Business Data
Intuit QuickBooks Small Business Insights: Q2 Survey (August 7, 2026)
Insight Summary: Small business growth remains steady, especially when compared year over year.
- 50% of U.S. small businesses describe themselves in growth mode (no change from Q1 and 6 points higher than a year ago) and 79% want to grow (1 point less than Q1 and 1 point more than a year ago).
- 86% of U.S. small businesses describe themselves as profitable (no change from Q1 and 2 points higher than a year ago).
- 50% of U.S. small businesses cite rising costs as their top challenge (3 points lower than Q1 and 4 points higher than a year ago) and 56% believe costs will continue to increase (3 points lower than Q1 and 2 points lower than a year ago).
- 41% of U.S. small businesses use AI on a daily basis (1 point higher than Q1 and 8 points higher than a year ago).
- 48% of U.S. small businesses believe AI is boosting revenue versus 45% who believe AI does not impact revenue.
- 24% of U.S. small businesses believe AI has shortened the length of workdays versus 12% who believe AI has made the workday longer.
- 44% of U.S. small businesses plan on adding workers in the next 3-months (3 points less than Q1 and 4 points higher than a year ago).
- 34% of U.S. small businesses believe it is relatively easy to hire skilled workers (3 points higher than Q1 and 5 points higher than a year ago).
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31% of U.S. small businesses believe it is hard to hire skilled workers (3 points better than Q1 and 5 points better than a year ago).
National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) July Optimism Index (August 11, 2026)
Insight Summary: Main Street employers experience uptick in optimism, resulting in more plans for capital investments.
- 27% of small business owners cite “labor quality or availability” as their single most important problem (8 points higher than June) and 14% cite inflation as their biggest problem (7 points lower than June and the first drop this year).
- 15% of small business owners expect better business conditions in the next 3-months (2 points higher than June).
- 12% of small business owners believe it is a good time to expand their business (4 points higher than June).
- -4% of small businesses reported higher sales in the past 3-months (no change from June) and 7 expect higher sales in the next 3-months (2 points lower than June).
- 31% of small businesses raised their prices in July (7 points lower than June). 28% are planning on raising prices in the next 3-months (4 points lower than June).
- 54% of small businesses reported capital outlays in the last 6 months (3 points higher than June) and 25% are planning capital purchases in the next 6-months (5 points higher than June).
- -4% of small business owners expect better credit conditions in the next 3-months (1 point better than June).
- Small businesses paid an average rate for short maturity loans of 7.9% in June (0.5 points higher than June) and 27% of small business owners report borrowing on a regular basis (5 points higher than June). The historical average is 34%.
PayChex July Small Business Employment Watch (August 4, 2026)
Insight Summary: Employment remains steady among firms with under 50 employees and workers boost their paychecks by logging more hours.
- Jobs index dropped 0.60% from June and remains in positive territory (+0.07%) for the Quarter.
- Manufacturing recorded the strongest job growth among sectors for one-month, one quarter, and 12-month time periods.
- Weekly earnings increased to 3.14% in July (highest level since December 2023) and hours-per-week worked is at its highest level since April 2021.
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Construction and Manufacturing led sectors for hourly earnings growth, weekly earnings growth, and weekly hours worked in July.
Fiserv July Small Business Index (August 3, 2026)
Insight Summary: Sales inched upward, withstanding inflation and more selective (bargain) consumer spending.
- Month over month sales at small businesses rose in July (+0.2%) and year over year sales continued upward (+1.6% compared to July 2025).
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Average checkout totals rose 3.2% compared to a year ago, solidifying a trend of higher spending per visit rather than increased customer traffic.
Chase for Business July Small Business Pulse (July 31, 2026)
Insight Summary: Data from June show that small business owners expect higher profits amidst rising costs.
- Hiring at small businesses in June recovered from May’s dip and leveled the year-over-year average at about 24%.
- Profitability for small businesses remained in positive territory throughout June despite continued inflation anxiety, an example of how Main Street businesses remain resilient.
- 44% of small businesses anticipated raising prices in July (11 points higher than June) and 54% of small businesses anticipated higher input costs in July (6 points higher than June).
WSJ/Vistage Small Business Small Business CEO Confidence Index (June 24, 2026)
Insight Summary: Small business expectations for increased profitability provided a boost in confidence.
- 23% of small business owners say the economy has improved compared to a year ago (5 points higher than June 3) and 34% say the economy has gotten worse (14 points better than June).
- 28% of small business owners believe the economy will improve in the next 12 months (1 points better than June) and 21% believe the economy will worsen (9 points better than June).
- 49% of small businesses plan on increasing employees in the next 12-months (2 points higher than June) and 9% plan on decreasing employees (2 points better than June).
- 39% of small businesses are expecting to increase fixed investments (1 point higher than June).
- 62% of small businesses expect increased revenues in the next 12 months (no change from June) and 11% believe revenues will decrease (1 point better than June).
- 51% of small business owners believe profitability will increase in the next 12 months (3 points better than June) and 19% believe that profitability will decrease (1 point worse than June).
Bank of America Institute Report, A New Generation of Business Formation (July 21, 2026)
Insight Summary: New business starts remain high and a higher percentage of entrepreneurs are founding businesses at an early age.
- Growth in new business applications in June rose 15% year-over-year on a three-month moving average.
- Business owners between the ages of 46-61 (Gen X) continue to start the most businesses at a rate of 4 to 1 compared to business owners between the ages of 14-29 (Gen Z). And, in June of 2020, the rate was 26 to 1.
- Lower income households account for 1 in every 4 business formations and in June of 2020, the rate was 1 in every 5.
- Higher income households account for 2 in every 5 business formations.
Small Business Fast Facts
Honoring America's Top Small Businesses
Explore More Small Business Insights
The U.S. Chamber's SVP of Small Business Policy Tom Sullivan appears regularly on ASBN - America's Small Business Network and hosts a weekly podcast to deliver fresh insights on small business to viewers and listeners nationwide.
Watch Tom Sullivan talk all things small business with Jim Fitzpatrick on ASBN (America's Small Business Network), including the latest news and policy updates for Main Street business owners. New episodes are added every month so that you can watch them anytime.
Small Business Outlook Podcast
Listen to the Small Business Podc(AI)st for more insights from the U.S. Chamber's Tom Sullivan and NFIB's Holly Wade. Each week, they combine their own expertise with the latest AI tools for podcasting and music editing to deliver an AI-cast that keeps you entertained and up-to-speed on everything small business.
From Main Street
About the author
Thomas M. Sullivan
Thomas M. Sullivan is senior vice president of small business policy at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Working with chambers of commerce and the U.S. Chamber’s nationwide network, Sullivan harnesses the views of small businesses and translates that grassroots power into federal policies that bolster free enterprise and reward entrepreneurship. He runs the U.S.
