It may be a new year, but President Biden and Congressional Democrats’ out-of-control spending spree continues to weigh heavily on the economy and the pocketbooks of the American people. Inflation remains persistently high with no clear end in sight despite the President’s best attempt to paint a rosy picture of the economy in his State of the Union address. Workers and Main Street know first-hand how high prices have and continue to cut into their paychecks. Grocery prices are up over 11 percent, as best demonstrated by the staggering price of eggs, turning a household staple into a commodity many American families are no longer willing to pay for. Americans are paying 6.4 percent more for goods and services than they did a year ago. This is not sustainable and cannot be normalized by the administration.

The below February 2023 Small Business Snapshot features numbers and updates to provide more insight into the current small business economy.

MAIN STREET MEASUREMENTS:

CONSUMER PRICE INDEX (INFLATION)

• The prices consumers paid for goods and services increased .5 percent in January as compared to December but totaled a 6.4 percent increase when measured over the last 12 months.

PRODUCER PRICE INDEX

• Wholesale prices increased .7 percent in January and registered an increase of 6.0 percent year over year.

JOB OPENINGS

• At the end of December, businesses were unable to fill 11 million jobs and 4.1 million workers quit their jobs.

UNEMPLOYMENT RATE

• 517,000 jobs were created in January, and the unemployment rate changed little at 3.4 percent. 5.7 million Americans are unemployed.

LABOR FORCE PARTICIPATION RATE

• The labor force participation rate increased to 62.4 percent in January.

UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE WEEKLY CLAIMS

• For the week ending February 4, 2022, the Department of Labor reported that initial unemployment claims were 196,000, an increase from the previous week.

• The 4-week moving average of initial claims totaled 189,250.