Thumbtack.com today released the third installment of its Small Business Sentiment Survey, a monthly survey of more than 10,000 independent businesses in the U.S., including 557 responses last month in Georgia. Designed with Bloomberg, the survey is housed and integrated into the economic functions of the Bloomberg Professional service.

The report is unique both in its ability to survey a large number of small businesses on a regular basis and in its focus on businesses with five employees or fewer. Small establishments such as these make up 90 percent of small businesses in the country (according to the U.S. Economic Census), yet, due to their size, are difficult for other researchers or government statisticians to reach. Thumbtack can collect responses from among its user base of 150,000 active service professionals, most of who are sole proprietors in service industries.  

In June, respondents nationwide indicated reduced optimism about the economy for the third month in a row, though sentiment about current and future conditions continues to be higher than that reported one year ago.  

Key findings for Georgia include:

• The economic sentiment of the state's small businesses has declined nearly three points since its two-year high in April 2015.
• Still, Georgia small business owners indicate feelings about the economy that are among the most positive in the nation, and expectations about future profitability rose one point month-over-month.
• However, between May and June, Georgia small business owners reported a nearly three-point decrease in expectations about employee wages, indicating that small business employers are cautiously optimistic about the future.
• For the second month in a row, small businesses nationally expressed increasing pessimism about future economic conditions, which have been the largest contributors to the decline in overall sentiment. 

Thumbtack.com Small Business Sentiment Index: Southern States continue to report strong economic conditions than the rest of the country

“The third monthly release of Thumbtack’s Small Business Sentiment Index reflects a slowdown in economic conditions that started at the beginning of the year,” said Thumbtack’s Chief Economist Jon Lieber. “These businesses operate in homes across America and by studying their sentiment we can gain a unique view into the leading edge of household consumption.” 

Thumbtack has created a data visualization to capture the results of this survey nationally and in each state and city for which responses were submitted, along with quotes from professionals surveyed. The visualization offers detailed demographic breakdowns of survey responses across self-reported factors such as age, gender, ethnic origin, and employer status.  Separate pages are available for each state included in the index. 

Bloomberg Professional service customers can access this data and additional industry level analysis at {ECST T TACKUSBS <GO>}.