“Most small business owners no longer believe the Fed will cut rates this year. The March jobs may just be confirming that sentiment.” -- Andrew Crapuchettes RedBalloon CEO and pioneer in development of labor market data analytics for business use.
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics released its monthly Employment Situation Report this morning, showing the economy added 303,000 jobs in March well above expectations. Government jobs rose by 71,000, 31% higher than the previous month, and unemployment remained largely unchanged at 3.8 percent.
“While the number of new jobs rose, so too did the pressure on the Fed to skip rate cuts this year,” said Andrew Crapuchettes, “Most small business owners no longer believe the Fed will cut rates this year. The March jobs may just be confirming that sentiment.”
In the March Freedom Economy survey of 80,000 small business owners, 62% said they believed the Fed would either keep rates unchanged or actually raise them, a marked shift from previous months. 74% also reported that their supplier prices had increased from the month prior.
Methodology:
The Freedom Economy Index surveyed a universe of over 80,000 small business owners throughout the United States, fielding the questionnaire from March 15-19, 2024, with 839 respondents. The survey has a margin of error of +/-3.0% at the 95% confidence level. Download the March report here.