According to the first UPS Business Monitor United States,
conducted by United Parcel Service of America Inc., Atlanta,
between September and October 2008, 91 percent of small-business
owners or managers say they expect their companies to be in the
same or better financial shape in one year. A follow-up survey
conducted in mid-December 2008 shows 86 percent of small-business
owners expect their companies to be in the same or better financial
shape in one year—a small decline though economic conditions
worsened in the time between the two surveys.
In the first survey, 47 percent of small-business owners say
they believe the U.S. economy will begin to improve in 2010 or
later. That number increased to 67 percent in the December 2008
survey.
Sixty-six percent of the first survey's respondents say they
plan to keep the same size work force for the upcoming year, and 24
percent say they will increase their work force. Ten percent say
they plan to reduce their work force. In the second survey, 74
percent of small-business owners say they expect their work force
to remain the same this year, 13 percent expect to increase their
work force, and 12 percent say they...
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