Report: Almost 40 Percent Of Small Businesses Closed During Pandemic

Just under 40% of all American small businesses closed during the COVID-19 pandemic, with just over 50% of small businesses in the leisure and hospitality industries closing, according to data from Opportunity Insights, a nonpartisan, not-for-profit research and policy institute at Harvard University’s Department of Economics

The study found that 38.9% of small businesses were closed as of June 2, according to the most recent data. Fifty-two percent of small businesses in the leisure and hospitality industry closed since January of last year, while the number of open small businesses in the healthcare, retail, education and transportation sectors dropped by about one-third.

The institute notes in a summary of its research on the economic impacts of the pandemic that “Small businesses in the most affluent ZIP codes — which tend to cater to high-income customers — lost more than 50% of their revenue when COVID-19 hit, as compared with 30% in the least affluent (low rent) ZIP codes.”

They add that the Paycheck Protection Program likely “had little effect on small business employment to date,” and “each job saved through the PPP program cost taxpayers more than $370,000.”

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{Matzav.com}