Confidence among small business owners hits highest level since Joe Biden became president, rising to a net confident quarterly reading above 50 for the first time, at 51 out of 100 in Q3 2024
ENGLEWOOD CLIFFS, N.J. and SAN MATEO, CA, September 27, 2024 — CNBC, First in Business Worldwide, and SurveyMonkey today announced the results of their quarterly CNBC|SurveyMonkey Small Business Survey.
The survey, which polled over 2,000 small business owners in the U.S. from September 3-9, 2024, finds that small business owners’ confidence has improved from 47 out of 100 last quarter to 51 in Q3. Confidence in President Joe Biden also increased 7 points, with 38% approving (up from 31% in Q2) and 61% disapproving (down from 68% in Q2) of the way Biden is handling his job as president. The percentage of small business owners who say they expect revenue to increase over the next 12 months has also risen above 50% for the first time during his presidency to 52% in Q3.
Amid the Fed’s concern of a cooling labor market, the survey hit an all-time low of 20% of small business owners who say they’ve had open positions that they are unable to fill in the past three months. More than half of small business owners (60%) also say they expect a positive impact from the Federal Reserve’s recent rate cuts and that lower interest rates will lead them to increase investments (40%), expand their businesses (37%) or increase inventory (26%). Only one in five small business owners say they plan on increasing employee wages or benefits (20%) or hiring more employees (17%).
“The surge in small business confidence to its highest level during the Biden administration signals a powerful shift in economic sentiment,” said Eric Johnson, CEO at SurveyMonkey. “This optimism, likely fueled by the anticipated interest rate cuts that had yet to be announced, could translate into increased investment and job creation, highlighting the critical role small businesses play as the backbone of the American economy.”
Additional findings from the Q3 2024 CNBC|SurveyMonkey Small Business Survey include:
Confidence in the upcoming 2024 presidential election candidates:
- Half of Republican small business owners (53%) prefer Biden over Kamala Harris as the Democrat candidate while Democrats overwhelmingly prefer Harris.
- Nine in ten (90%) of Democratic small business owners support Harris as the Democratic candidate, with only 4% preferring Biden and 6% undecided.
- Only 8% of Republican small business owners support Harris as the Democrat candidate: half (53%) prefer Biden, and one in three (33%) are undecided or unsure.
- Business owners are less enthusiastic about vice presidential candidates Tim Walz and JD Vance compared to their presidential counterparts.
- Nearly four in ten (37%) small business owners think that Vance will have a positive impact on their business, 13 points lower than Trump (50%), but still higher than Walz (29%).
- Both candidates see majority support among small business owners from their respective parties.
Despite optimism that inflation has peaked, small business owners remain cautious:
- One in three small business owners (33%) believe that inflation has peaked, up 9 points from last quarter (24%).
- Optimism for inflation relief is at its highest since the inception of this question, and highest since the first quarter of the year (29% in Q1 2024).
- However, small business owners remain cautious about the threat of inflation. Two in three (66%) believe that inflation will continue to rise. Four in ten (38%) say that inflation is the biggest risk to their business, nearly three times higher than the next biggest risks, consumer demand (13%) and interest rates (10%).
CNBC Restaurant & Small Business Correspondent Kate Rogers will reveal the results of the CNBC|SurveyMonkey Small Business Survey today, Friday, September 27 throughout the network’s Business Day programming. For more information on the survey including the full results and methodology and in-depth articles, go to: https://www.surveymonkey.com/curiosity/cnbcsurveymonkey-small-business-index-q3-2024/?utm_source=cnbc_2024.
Methodology:
SurveyMonkey created a unique Small Business Confidence Index (SBCI), which is a 100-point score based on responses to eight key questions. The index is calculated on a scale from 0–100 and is based on the responses to eight key questions. A zero indicates no confidence, and a score of 100 indicates perfect confidence. The third quarter of 2024′s SBCI has increased to an overall value of 51, up four points from 47 last quarter.
This CNBC|SurveyMonkey online poll was conducted September 3-9, 2024 among a national sample of 2,276 self-identified small business owners ages 18 and up. This quarter, we also reached 10,845 individuals who do not own small businesses. Respondents for this survey were selected from the more than 2 million people who take surveys on the SurveyMonkey platform each day. The modeled error estimate for this survey is plus or minus 4 percentage points for the results among small business owners and 1 percentage point for results among those who do not own small businesses.
Data for small business statistics have been weighted according to business characteristics (industry and number of employees) according to the Small Business Administration’s 2013 Statistics of U.S. Businesses. Additionally, person-level data (age, gender, level of education, race, geography) for business owners have been weighted to the Census Bureau’s 2012 Survey of Business Owners.
For more information contact:
CNBC
Jennifer Dauble
201-735-4721
CNBC
Stephanie Hirlemann
201-397-2838
SurveyMonkey
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About SurveyMonkey:
SurveyMonkey is a global leader in online surveys and forms that empowers people with the insights they need to make decisions with speed and confidence. Our fast, intuitive feedback management platform connects millions of users worldwide with real-time AI-powered insights that drive meaningful decisions. We provide answers to more than 20 million questions every day so that people and organizations can attract new audiences, delight customers, create advocates, and extend their competitive advantage in the marketplace. Our vision is to raise the bar for human experiences by amplifying individual voices. Learn more at surveymonkey.com.
