Wall Street Journal: Slump Destroying Small Businesses Across Country

For many small businesses across the country, these are scary times. The dramatic pullback in consumer spending is only the latest blow threatening to push some strapped small businesses out of existence. Customers are paying their bills late, cutting off cash flow, the lifeblood for a small business. Even healthy companies are being choked by the lack of credit lines and bank loans. Others are still reeling from several years of high raw -materials prices. In a recent survey from the National Federation of Independent Business, more than a quarter of small business owners said the current economic downturn is threatening their ability to survive. In the months ahead, "we are going to see businesses that were marginal go out of business," says William Dunkelberg, NFIB's chief economist . . .

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