Page 7 - ATODAY
P. 7
U.S. NEWS A7
Monday 11 January 2016
US Financial Front:
Small business crystal ball: Don’t look for boom in 2016
JOYCE M. ROSENBERG survey during the summer. Evan Mountain, owner of Fred Astaire Dance Studio, poses in Consumer spending has
AP Business Writer Forty-seven percent pre- Bloomfield Hills, Mich. Mountain expects business at his dance also been erratic in recent
NEW YORK (AP) — Don’t dicted their revenue would studio in suburban Detroit to grow in 2016 along with the auto months, which has a di-
look for a small busi- be higher, down from 51 industry. rect effect on small busi-
ness boom in 2016. percent. nesses like retailers and res-
Companies in some indus- Sluggish consumer spend- (AP Photo/Paul Sancya) taurants. Spending rose 0.3
tries and in certain parts of ing, the slowdown in the percent in November after
the U.S. may have a strong gas and oil industries and counted 123,000 jobs lost in commodities prices is hurt- stagnating in October, ac-
year, but overall, small the still-unpredictable hous- those industries from 2014 ing companies related to cording to the Commerce
businesses can expect a ing market are expected to to 2015. And the plunge in agriculture, he says. Department. Consumers
continuation of the slow, keep companies cautious. have put more money into
uneven growth they expe- Uneasiness about possible savings — $748 billion in
rienced in 2015. terror attacks also is likely to November and $757 billion
Surveys show owners gen- add to the uncertainty. in October, up from $723
erally have lowered expec- Economist Scott Anderson billion in September.
tations for their companies expects companies in the Consumers are willing to
in 2016. A survey taken in Midwest to have a tougher buy cars but are otherwise
November by Wells Fargo time than those on the East more cautious, Anderson
& Co. found 70 percent of and West coasts because says.
owners expect their com- the energy and mining “You need to see the con-
panies’ financial situation industries are struggling. sumer hitting on all cylin-
to be good in 12 months, Anderson, chief econo- ders for small businesses to
down from 74 percent in a mist with Bank of the West, feel the full effect,” he
says.q
