untitledSource: CNN Money

Consumer confidence in July was pushed further downward for a sescond straight month, indicating slower than expected economic growth ahead.

The Conference Board, a New York-based research group, said Tuesday that its Consumer Confidence Index dropped to 50.4 in July from June’s upwardly revised level of 54.3.

The Small Biz Factor
Experts contend that while large corporations may be slowly feeling the turn-around, it’s the mom and pops out there that are struggling to gain traction.  As small business financing continues to remain out of reach for many of the thousands of smaller companies with fewer than 100 employees, the pressure is on to keep funds flowing to cover basic needs, including payroll services.  Lending laws and tighter regulations over the banking industry may be a good thing, but for the small business finance sector they have made it much more difficult for small businesses to tap lines of credit loans or other resources they normally would have been able to rely upon a few years ago. Today, many are struggling just to keep the lights on, and that permeates across the landscape for consumers.

“Consumer confidence faded further in July as consumers continue to grow increasingly more pessimistic about the short-term outlook,” Lynn Franco, director of the Conference Board Consumer Research Center, said in a statement. “Concerns about business conditions and the labor market are casting a dark cloud over consumers that is not likely to lift until the job market improves.”

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My Take: This is so true.  You won’t see my small business sending out any monogrammed note cards  this year to my customers thanking them for their business. There’s barely been any. I would normally start thinking about what kinds of personalized custom gifts to send out for the holidays right now but that’s no where on my radar.  It’s true, payroll solutions are at the top of my list when it comes to expenses, and not being able to pay my workers is a constant worry.

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