Small-business owners say it is getting easier to hire workers and keep them around, in what they hope is a sign that the worst of their labor problems are behind them.  

The U.S. job market remains historically tight. But December marked the first time since July where more small-business owners said in a survey for The Wall Street Journal that they found it easier—rather than harder—to find workers. 

A majority of small business owners would rather see Republicans take power in the upcoming midterm elections than Democrats, according to a new poll from the Job Creators Network.

Small-business owners, prepare yourselves for the era of the 1099-K. That’s the tax form for disclosing transactions with services such as PayPal, Venmo, and Airbnb. Until this year, anyone with less than $20,000 in total payments typically didn’t get a 1099-K—and thus, in theory, could avoid paying taxes on money earned on such platforms. But since Jan. 1 those companies have been required to report gross payments of more than $600 directly to the Internal Revenue Service.

In January, PNC Bank surveyed small business owners and half of them revealed they expect to raise their prices within the next six months, blaming the pandemic and supply chain woes. PNC surveyed them before the Russian invasion of Ukraine and continued war in the region.

The more than 150 million workers in the United States include about 16 million workers who identify as self-employed. They work for profit or fees in their own enterprises and are a representation of America’s small business owners. Many also create jobs for other workers, on the order of about 30 million in recent years.

Small business owners are not particularly optimistic going into the final quarter of 2021, chalking up their pessimism to ongoing shortages, inflation and new taxes looming over the horizon. 

Pent-up demand after more than 18 months of the COVID-19 pandemic is roaring ahead, pushing up prices and leaving businesses struggling to keep pace with it.

Facebook this week announced a $100 million commitment to a program that supports small businesses owned by women and minorities by buying up their outstanding invoices.

By buying up outstanding invoices, the Facebook Invoice Fast Track program puts money in the hands of small businesses that would have otherwise had to wait weeks if not months to get paid by their customers. 

FOR 24 YEARS, Ericka Gray has owned her own mediation and arbitration business in Arlington, Massachusetts, helping organizations navigate workplace disputes. But when the Covid-19 pandemic began, her income completely dried up. “I had no business, nothing for a number of months,” she said. “Everybody was otherwise occupied.”

Companies like Facebook and Uber say they’re supporting small businesses while squashing them.

Major corporations really want you to know how much they care about small businesses — as long as those small businesses don’t compete with them or cause them too much trouble.

While corporations are leading our government by the nose, small business is more often an unwilling victim, pleading for any path they can to survive their rulers.

In big cities across America, we have seen some laugh-out-loud-ridiculous “COVID-prevention” measures in bars and restaurants. No menus allowed. Masks off when you’re at a table. Masks on when you go to the bathroom. Disposable cups only. “Hold a minute while we wipe down the chairs.”