Poll: Are You Still Feeling The Recession? One Third of Businesses Say Yes

More than one third of small-business owners believe the country is still in a recession, according to survey by American Express OPEN, the small business services section of the financial corporation.

The company's Small Business Monitor reported that 38 percent of small businesses are still feeling the economic effects of a weak economy, despite the National Bureau of Economic Research's claim that the recession ended in 2009. That figure is a slight decrease from the 44 percent reported in fall 2010.

A quarter of respondents to the survey (27 percent) said they did not expect their businesses to grow over the next six months, despite the upcoming holiday season, and two thirds (69 percent) said they would not be hiring over that same period.

"The recession has made small-business owners more calculating and measured in how they run their firms," said Susan Sobbott, president, American Express OPEN, in a release. "When cash is tight, they pull back on spending or look for creative ways to access capital."

Despite the low numbers, most sectors showed an improvement compared to previous survey results. The number of businesses concerned with meeting payroll decreased 4 percent since 2009, to, while the number of companies with no cash flow concerns raised 10 percent over the past six months to 43 percent. Nearly half (48 percent) of small-business owners planned to make capital investments in the next six months.

The American Express OPEN Small Business Monitor is a biannual survey of 814 small business owners/managers of companies with fewer than 100 employees. The full survey is available on the American Express OPEN Forum.

What do you think? A recent report by the Census Bureau shows that, despite the official ending of the recession, median household income has dropped 6.7 percent since 2009. Does it seem like the recession is still impacting the promotional products industry? Has your business improved or become more difficult this year?

Voting has ended.