The beleaguered state of the UK economy has been underlined by three separate reports revealing that Britain’s one million small and medium-sized businesses were facing their most difficult year since the recession of 2009.
Sharp declines in bank lending to smaller firms, and a collapse in confidence across the sector outlined in the reports will add [...]

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Jobs. What’s more important to an economy (and a household for that matter) than for people to be working? Of course there’s many factors but no matter who you are, employment and jobs are right up there at the top of the list of what is needed for a healthy and vibrant economy. [...]

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U.S. small business hiring was flat in January, a poll released on Friday showed, slightly better than the previous month’s reading but still far from levels consistent with strong employment growth.
The National Federation of Independent Business survey of 2,155 firms also found an increase in the percentage of owners reporting hard-to-fill job openings. NFIB said [...]

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The National Small Business Association (NSBA) today released its 2011 Year-End Economic Report which shows a decidedly more positive outlook for America’s small businesses, with important gains in several key indicators. Most notably, more small-business owners report being confident about the future of their businesses than at any time in the last three years, up [...]

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ADP announced that 170,000 jobs were created in the month of January, and that growth was largely driven by small businesses.
“The data is encouraging,” Joel Prakken, chairman of Macroeconomic Advisors, said in a CNBC interview today. “Not just the employment numbers but ancillary numbers look promising,” he said, referring to earlier reports that requests for [...]

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Obama’s small-business proposal would help high-growth start-ups, experts say
The $48-billion proposal, which will be part of the president’s 2013 budget, calls for tax cuts for small businesses that create jobs, an elimination of capital gains taxes for small-business stock and an expansion of the Small Business Investment Company program, which supplements private equity investments.
The Washington [...]

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Intuit: Small business adds 50000 jobs in January
Small businesses added 50000 new jobs in January but paid employees slightly less and gave them fewer hours, according to Intuit Inc.’s monthly small business employment index.
MarketWatch
Obama wants small business tax, investment breaks
The legislative package, which will be part of Obama’s 2013 budget proposal later this month, also [...]

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Small Business Strategies: Year of the Dragon offers lessons
It’s the Year of the Dragon, considered the luckiest year in the Chinese zodiac, and it should be a great year for entrepreneurs and small business owners, according to what’s predicted to affect you and your small business in the coming year.
USA TODAY
Getting started on your small [...]

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Small Business Deals Continued Upward Swing in 2011
Continuing a two-year trend, small business sales inched up again in 2011, according to BizBuySell.com, an online business-for-sale marketplace. This upward spike dates back to the beginning of 2009.
CSNews Online
The 7th Annual Small Business Summit Gains Momentum
The Seventh Annual Small Business Summit, (#smallbizsummit) New York’s premier event for [...]

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What small-business owners want in SOTU
What do small-business owners want from the government? The short answer: Move out of the way. Eight out of 10 small-business owners say they want the government to stay out of the way instead of providing a “helping hand,” according to a recent US Chamber of Commerce survey.
Politico
Thinking of closing [...]

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