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Small business approval of Trump hits record high of 64%: Poll
An all-time-high 64% of small business owners approve of how President Trump is doing his job, a survey that regularly gauges small business sentiments reports.
www.washingtonexaminer.com
Small business approval of Trump hits record high of 64%: Poll
by Katherine Doyle
February 20, 2020 01:56 PM
An all-time-high 64% of small business owners approve of how President Trump is doing his job, a survey that regularly gauges small business sentiments reports.
The rating is up from 60% in the final quarter of 2019 and 56% a year ago in the first quarter of 2019, according to the results of a quarterly CNBC/SurveyMonkey survey that polls small-business owners nationwide.
Respondents cited a phase one trade deal with China and favorable regulatory conditions for their strong approval of Trump.
Of those polled, 47% of small-business owners "strongly approve" of the job Trump is doing — a new high for an index that has not hit above 40%. Answers to this question skew heavily along party lines: While 75% of Republican or Republican-leaning respondents "strongly approve," just 5% of Democrats did. The survey included far more Republicans than Democrats — 1,100 Republicans to 730 Democrats and 244 independents. Small-business owners are more likely to identify as Republican than Democrat, which is not the case across the general population, where the divide is more even.
While 15% of independents "strongly approve" of the job the president is doing, 34% "strongly disapprove."
Trade concerns have taken a back seat. Among those small business owners who are anticipating an effect from one of the president's two major trade deals, most expect positive results.
"2020 is off to an explosive start for the small-business economy, with owners expecting increased sales, earnings, and higher wages for employees," National Federation of Independent Business chief economist William Dunkelberg said in a statement in reference to his organization's own survey, which notes similar optimism among its members.
Dunkelberg cites current tax policies and deregulation creating an environment that best serves the needs of the trade group's members.
Where business owners expect to feel some pain is with minimum wage hikes. Of the small-business owners polled by CNBC/SurveyMonkey, 43% expect wage increases to hurt their businesses by shrinking profits, forcing them to cut employee hours and upping the chance of layoffs.
Speaking to the Washington Examiner, NFIB Research Director Holly Wade said minimum wage hikes have a ripple effect because salaries of higher-paid workers also rise when a new minimum wage floor is established. The group is surveying the effects of the wage hike in Illinois, which has pledged to transition to $15 hourly wage by 2025 but expects to meet the goal by next year.
