Survey: Trump policies a mixed bag for small businesses

As Small Business Week kicks into gear, the nation’s smallest companies in the aggregate are by many accounts doing fairly well.They’re not, however, thriving en masse in direct response to Trump administration and Republican policies.Small business hiring is erratic, according to numbers released by payroll provider ADP. Small businesses typically struggle to add jobs when the unemployment rate is very low, as it is now, at 3.8%. They often can’t pay as much as larger companies or offer the comparatively robust benefits that big companies do, thereby leaving them at a disadvantage when workers are scarce. Meanwhile, surveys by Bank of America, Wells Fargo, Capital One and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and MetLife show small business owners have been losing some of their optimism as doubts linger about the strength of the current economic expansion. The new tax law enacted in late 2017 has had a mixed impact on small businesses and the trade war that began with Trump administration tariffs is hurting small manufacturers and retailers.