Rent delinquency rates among US small businesses increased significantly this month, a new report shows, Bloomberg News reported.
About 37% of small businesses, which between them employ almost half of all Americans working in the private sector, were unable to pay their rent in full in October. This is according to a survey from Boston-based Alignable, a network of 7 million small business members. This is an increase of seven percentage points from last month and is now at the highest pace this year, the survey showed.
The survey of 4,789 small business owners was conducted between Oct. 15 and Oct. 27. The findings partly reflect how inflation is affecting small businesses. More than half say their rent is at least 10% higher than it was six months ago, and 1 in 7 say rents have increased at least 20%. This could be the tip of the iceberg as profit margins are cut to the bone by inflationary pressure and supply chain difficulties.
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