Main Street indicators show holiday season slowdown?
Economic indicators and recent interest rate hikes have sent mixed messages about short-term expectations around inflation and the likelihood of a recession.
Continued slow downs in hours worked and employees working at small businesses have diverged from prior years, likely a result of decline in holiday spending.
In the past quarter, interest rate hikes and economic indicators on inflation and employment have led to widespread speculation that a recession is to be expected in 2023. To understand how the broader economic environment has impacted small businesses and their employees during the 2022 holiday season, we analyzed behavioral data from more than two million employees working at more than one hundred thousand SMBs.
Summary of findings: Homebase high-frequency timesheet data indicate continued slowdown in hours worked and employees working across most industries and major metro areas.
- Our key Main Street Health Metrics — hours worked and employees working — have