Main Street Businesses Are Outperforming the US Economy
PYMNTS Intelligence frequently looks at the landscape of the small businesses that populate U.S. Main Streets, as they offer a way to gauge the health of the larger U.S. economy. As we recently reported, despite signs of an economic slowdown, most Main Street businesses operating in the U.S. have proven somewhat more resilient than their larger counterparts. In fact, in the last 12 months, Main Street businesses have operated with the lowest risk of closing since early 2020.
Additional data uncovered by PYMNTS Intelligence while compiling its exclusive Main Street Index supports this upbeat news. The index finds that most Main Street businesses are enjoying faster growth levels post-pandemic than many analysts predicted.
The Main Street Index is an aggregate, quarterly metric created by PYMNTS Intelligence to measure the health of U.S. Main Street businesses, based on three primary factors: growth in new establishments, real wages and employment using data from the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages provided by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
According to the Index, Main Street businesses operating in certain sectors — building and contracting, dining, repair work and others — exhibit solid growth. Additionally, those operating in the Mountain, Southwest and Midwest regions of the U.S. have proven to be especially sturdy, suggesting small and mid-sized businesses in these regions may be poised for future growth.
