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Small businesses unsure of survival without more aid

A Federal Reserve report shows 30 percent of U.S. small businesses are concerned they don’t expect to survive without additional COVID-19 aid from the government. The report found sales for 88 percent of small businesses have not returned to pre-COVID levels.

Around a third of the surviving U.S. small businesses say they won’t be able to survive without another round of COVID-19 aid, according to a report published by the Federal Reserve.

The report found that sales for 88 percent of small businesses have not yet returned to pre-COVID levels.

One in three, or 30 percent, of businesses said they expected they could not stay afloat without further government assistance, according to the report from the U.S. central bank’s 12 regional offices.

The Small Business Credit Survey was conducted in September and October 2020, before Congress passed the latest $900 billion coronavirus relief package and relaunched the Paycheck Protection Program.

Responses were gathered from close to 10,000 businesses with fewer than 500 employees.

“At the time our survey was fielded, six months into the pandemic, closures, layoffs, depressed revenue, and uncertainty continued to plague small businesses across the country,” the report said. “Small business debt mounted and business owners plowed their personal savings into their firms to keep them afloat.”

Around that same time, more than 90 percent of small businesses said they had applied for aid, including 83 percent who sought a forgivable loan through the Paycheck Protection Program. About three-fourths, or 77percent, said they received the aid they wanted.