Ohio’s small business owners counted economic inflation, labor shortages and supply chain disruptions as the issue most concerning to their business, according to a recent survey.
Some combination of these currents have caused roughly eight in 10 Ohio business owners to raise prices, according to a survey conducted by the National Federation of Independent Businesses. Roughly 4 in 10 respondents have raised prices by at least 10%.
Ohio’s employment rate fell to 4% last month and the state’s workforce size has returned to pre-pandemic levels, according to federal data. However, 72% of the surveyed businesses still report staffing issues, with over half saying it’s a “very real problem.”
About 90% of respondents indicated the cost of gas is impacting their business, as felt in labor costs, material costs and inventory costs. Average gas prices in Ohio hit a record high of $4.87 per gallon, according to AAA.
The survey data comes from 300 business owners over the past several weeks. Roughly 90% of them oversee operations of 50 or fewer employees, according to an NFIB spokesman.
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‘Reproductive freedom’ amendment proposal faces uphill battle in Ohio
A second constitutional amendment introduced in Ohio to protect reproductive choice in the state likely will not be on the ballot for November, because it would need to make it through a Republican supermajority first.
The constitutional amendment was introduced by House Minority Whip Jessica Miranda, D-Forest Park and Senate Assistant Minority Leader Nickie Antonio, D-Lakewood, and seeks to “guarantee the right to reproductive freedom,” including “prenatal care, childbirth, postpartum care, contraception, sterilization, abortion care, miscarriage management and infertility care.”
“The amendment prohibits the state from discriminating in the protection or enforcement of this fundamental right,” according to an analysis by the Legislative Service Commission, adding that the amendment would bar the state from penalizing or prosecuting a person “based on the individual’s actual, potential, perceived or alleged pregnancy outcomes.”
The proposal, if passed by the General Assembly, would go to the ballot for the general election on Nov. 8 of this year. READ MORE
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