Small Business Pulse Survey Phase 7 announced

The U.S. Census Bureau has recently announced that data collection has begun for Phase 7 of the Small Business Pulse Survey (SBPS). The SBPS measures the effects of changing conditions for small businesses (businesses that have a single location and under 500 employees) during the COVID-19 pandemic. This phase of the survey also includes new questions on changes in the use of digital technologies and in business, production, and management practices. Aside from surveying strictly business metrics, Phase 7 will also include questions that assess workplace COVID-19 vaccination and testing statistics and the overall well-being of business owners.

The first six phases of the SBPS took place in roughly three-month intervals between April 2020 and October 2021. Initial data from Phase 7 will be posted on Nov. 24 – updated data will be posted every Thursday from Dec. 2 through Jan. 20, 2022. Phase 7 includes questions from the previous phases that ask small businesses how metrics such as revenue, costs, and number of employees have changed relative to what was considered normal for the business before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Nearly one million businesses will be invited to participate in Phase 7 of the SBPS; roughly 100,000 invitations will be sent out every week. The results can assist policymakers and business leaders in assessing how changes in business conditions have impacted small businesses across all 50 states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Further information on the Small Business Pulse Survey and the Phase 7 survey questionnaire can be found here.