Release Date: 03/ 01/ 2005
CONTACT: Armando Paolino, (203) 758-8981 or Jim Jennings, (240) 645-4099
NFIB Survey Indicates Insurance Remains Top Problem
CONNECTICUT -- Connecticut's overall business climate has remained stable, according to the Connecticut Small Business ConditionsSM report. The new report's data, which was released today by the National Federation of Independent Business/Connecticut, provides an overview of small-business conditions within Connecticut and compares them with neighboring states.
"While there are still plenty of problems facing small firms today — from the high cost of health insurance to soaring unemployment insurance rates and mandated business costs — the overall outlook of small business owners is good," said Armando Paolino, NFIB/Connecticut state director.
A net 14 percent of the state's small employers believed the business environment was "supportive." However, a net 33 percent reported business conditions in their market area as "good." They also saw those conditions improving. A net 67 percent characterized the outlook for business over the next three months as "good," citing sales prospects as the primary reason for their view.
Small-business hiring has been steady in the last three months, with 22 percent noting they had "one or more" current job openings. Over the same three-month period, 43 percent of small-business owners made capital expenditures. While 47 percent of the respondents reported spending on technology upgrades, the number of owners making expenditures for employee training was also 45 percent.
Of those surveyed in Connecticut a net 18 percent indicated that profits were "good" and a net 40 percent characterized sales as "good." Overall, a net 60 percent of small employers reported that over the last three months their purchasing prices rose while a net 22 percent reported they had increased selling prices.
When asked to rank their most important business problems, Connecticut's small-business owners ranked insurance and competition from big business as the most serious of all conditions.
"As we see from the finding, the cost of insurance continues to be the dominant problem facing small firms today. Lawmakers have to get a handle on insurance costs," said Paolino.
The Small-Business ConditionsSM reports are developed from surveys of small-business owners in 26 selected states. The surveys are designed to determine the condition of the small-business economy in each particular state. The surveys are conducted every three months and results are released on the first day of the month following completion.
For information about the Small-Business ConditionsSM project and other small-business research studies conducted by the NFIB Research Foundation, visit www.NFIB.com/research.
| Connecticut Small-Business ConditionsSM | ||||||
| This chart shows the results from Connecticut and its comparative standing among selected nearby states. | ||||||
| Conn. | Mass. | N.Y. | ||||
| Business Climate | Survey Date | |||||
| Overall state business environment | ||||||
| Net % supportive of small business | 2/2005 | 14 | 13 | 3 | ||
| Prior qtr. | - | - | - | |||
| Business conditions in market area | ||||||
| Net % "good" | 2/2005 | 33 | 33 | 17 | ||
| Prior qtr. | - | - | - | |||
| Net % "improving" | 2/2005 | 13 | 12 | 7 | ||
| Prior qtr. | - | - | - | |||
| Outlook for business | ||||||
| Net % "good" in next three months | 2/2005 | 67 | 62 | 56 | ||
| Prior qtr. | - | - | - | |||
| Reason for optimism | ||||||
| % Sales prospects | 2/2005 | 56 | 47 | 63 | ||
| Prior qtr. | - | - | - | |||
| % Lower costs | 2/2005 | 2 | 4 | 2 | ||
| Prior qtr. | - | - | - | |||
| % Price increases | 2/2005 | 3 | 3 | 4 | ||
| Prior qtr. | - | - | - | |||
| % Greater productivity | 2/2005 | 11 | 16 | 10 | ||
| Prior qtr. | - | - | - | |||
| % Government policy | 2/2005 | 3 | 3 | 2 | ||
| Prior qtr. | - | - | - | |||
| Reason for pessimism | ||||||
| % Sales prospects | 2/2005 | 29 | 14 | 5 | ||
| Prior qtr. | - | - | - | |||
| % Cost increases | 2/2005 | 26 | 21 | 11 | ||
| Prior qtr. | - | - | - | |||
| % Pressure on selling prices | 2/2005 | 0 | 0 | 11 | ||
| Prior qtr. | - | - | - | |||
| % Lower productivity | 2/2005 | 7 | 0 | 5 | ||
| Prior qtr. | - | - | - | |||
| % Government policy | 2/2005 | 14 | 29 | 47 | ||
| Prior qtr. | - | - | - | |||
| Conn. | Mass. | N.Y. | ||||
| Sales and earnings (last quarter) | ||||||
| Sales | ||||||
| Net % sales "good" | 2/2005 | 40 | 35 | 25 | ||
| Prior qtr. | - | - | - | |||
| Profits | ||||||
| Net % profits "good" | 2/2005 | 18 | 18 | 12 | ||
| Prior qtr. | - | - | - | |||
| Employment | ||||||
| Current job openings (one or more) | ||||||
| % "Yes" | 2/2005 | 22 | 19 | 22 | ||
| Prior qtr. | - | - | - | |||
| Per employee payroll cost | ||||||
| Net % "risen" | 2/2005 | 22 | 17 | 29 | ||
| Prior qtr. | - | - | - | |||
| Employee cost pressures (greater) | ||||||
| % Wages | 2/2005 | 50 | 53 | 56 | ||
| Prior qtr. | - | - | - | |||
| % Benefits | 2/2005 | 32 | 33 | 28 | ||
| Prior qtr. | - | - | - | |||
| Conn. | Mass. | N.Y. | ||||
| Productivity | ||||||
| Upgraded technology/processes (last three months) | ||||||
| % "Yes" | 2/2005 | 47 | 41 | 47 | ||
| Prior qtr. | - | - | - | |||
| Made capital expenditure(s) (last three months) | ||||||
| % "Yes" | 2/2005 | 43 | 42 | 45 | ||
| Prior qtr. | - | - | - | |||
| Made expenditure to train employee(s) (last three months) | ||||||
| % "Yes" | 2/2005 | 45 | 37 | 42 | ||
| Prior qtr. | - | - | - | |||
| Capacity utilization - can increase sales 10% without new inputs | ||||||
| % "Yes" | 2/2005 | 63 | 61 | 54 | ||
| Prior qtr. | - | - | - | |||
| Credit availability (last three months) | ||||||
| % All credit needs satisfied | 2/2005 | 41 | 35 | 34 | ||
| Prior qtr. | - | - | - | |||
| % All credit needs not satisfied | 2/2005 | 8 | 9 | 12 | ||
| Prior qtr. | - | - | - | |||
| % No credit needs | 2/2005 | 47 | 51 | 47 | ||
| Prior qtr. | - | - | - | |||
| Conn. | Mass. | N.Y. | ||||
| Prices | ||||||
| Purchasing prices (last three months) | ||||||
| Net % increased | 2/2005 | 60 | 48 | 56 | ||
| Prior qtr. | - | - | - | |||
| Selling prices (last three months) | ||||||
| Net % increased | 2/2005 | 22 | 17 | 16 | ||
| Prior qtr. | - | - | - | |||
| Miscellaneous | ||||||
| Involvement in start of another business | ||||||
| % "Yes" | 2/2005 | 13 | 11 | 17 | ||
| Prior qtr. | - | - | - | |||
| Single most important business problem | ||||||
| % Weak sales | 2/2005 | 9 | 10 | 11 | ||
| Prior qtr. | - | - | - | |||
| % Taxes | 2/2005 | 11 | 9 | 16 | ||
| Prior qtr. | - | - | - | |||
| % Employee quality/costs | 2/2005 | 14 | 10 | 9 | ||
| Prior qtr. | - | - | - | |||
| % Insurance | 2/2005 | 21 | 22 | 17 | ||
| Prior qtr. | - | - | - | |||
| % Big-business competition | 2/2005 | 15 | 17 | 14 | ||
| Prior qtr. | - | - | - | |||
| % Inflation/Rising prices | 2/2005 | 5 | 11 | 11 | ||
| Prior qtr. | - | - | - | |||
| % Credit availability/Interest rates | 2/2005 | 2 | 2 | 5 | ||
| Prior qtr. | - | - | - | |||
| % Regulations/Red tape | 2/2005 | 9 | 9 | 7 | ||
| Prior qtr. | - | - | - | |||
| Connecticut Quarterly Spotlight | |
| Over the last year, which type of business insurance has had the most rapidly rising premiums? | |
| Vehicle collision and liability | 8% |
| Workers' compensation | 17% |
| Product or professional liability | 14% |
| Property and casualty | 8% |
| Employee health | 37% |
| Don't know/Refused | 16% |
| Total | 100% |
| Do you directly compete with businesses outside the United States? | |
| Yes | 15% |
| No | 83% |
| Don't know/Refused | 2% |
| Total | 100% |
The Poll
NFIB’s Connecticut Small-Business ConditionsSM is a telephone survey of a random sample of Connecticut small employers regarding business conditions within the state. “Small employer” is defined here as employing between one and 250 people (not including the owner(s)) in a for-profit business. Each edition of the survey has a minimum of 350 respondents. The sampling error is ± 5 percentage points. Data are collected quarterly in the months of February, May, August and November, beginning in February 2005. The MRCGroup of Las Vegas conducts the survey for the NFIB Research Foundation.
The Sponsor
The NFIB Research Foundation is a 501 (c)(3) organization that provides policy-makers, media, educators, small-business owners and other interested parties empirically based information on small business and small-business owners. The Foundation is affiliated with the National Federation of Independent Business, the nation’s largest small- and independent-business advocacy organization, and is located in Washington, D.C.
