Business Owner Survey Reveals Deterioration of National Economic Sentiment

By: Wilmington Trust, a wholly owned subsidiary of M&T Bank Corporation

Financial experts weigh in to help guide business owners if sales, supply chains, spending, hiring, and planning are negatively affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

• Survey reveals deterioration of national economic sentiment from 78% to 48% within one week.
• 81% of survey respondents have experienced direct or indirect impacts on their business due to the virus outbreak.
• 83% view the outbreak as either a “serious” or “extremely serious” threat to the global economy.

Wilmington Trust and its parent company, M&T Bank, surveyed owners of businesses with revenue of less than $5 million to ascertain their views on the potential impact of the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak on the U.S. economy and their business operations.

An initial survey took place from March 9–11 among 419 business owners. Due to the dynamic and volatile situation, an additional survey was conducted with 296 business owners from March 17–18, which illustrates how business owner sentiment had evolved in the ensuing days.

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