A new US Chamber of Commerce poll is warning that one out of every four small businesses in the United States is on the brink of permanently closing.
According to a statement provided to PoliticusUSA by the US Chamber of Commerce:
A new poll taken from March 25 – 28, 2020 and released today from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and MetLife reveals that one in four small businesses (24%) say they are two months or less from closing permanently amid the economic downturn caused by the coronavirus pandemic. One in 10 (11%) are less than one month away from permanently going out of business.
Additionally, about one in four (24%) small businesses have already shut down temporarily in response to COVID-19. Among those that have not, 40% say they are likely to close at least temporarily within the next two weeks. This means a total of 54% of all small businesses report that they have closed or expect to close temporarily in the next 14 days.
For decades, Republicans have been using small businesses as an excuse to justify their pro-big corporation polices. In terms of policy, the Trump administration has tilted virtually all of its efforts toward large businesses.
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Small businesses usually have little to no cushion to weather an unexpected crisis. While Trump is trying to bail out the airlines and Big Oil, small businesses are fighting for their survival and hoping that the weeks that it is estimated to take for small business loans and the payroll protection program to kick into gear don’t become a reality.
Trump’s incompetent coronavirus response may permanently kill millions of jobs so that even after the virus is gone, joblessness and despair will remain.
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Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
