A frightening recession indicator is flashing red — and Americans can see it all over Main Street.
Experts told the Daily Mail that a sudden surge in bankruptcies and store closures — hitting mom-and-pop shops, small restaurants, and local retailers — could be an early warning sign that the economy is starting to crack.
‘The little guys are going to start falling first,’ Joe Barsalona, a Delaware-based bankruptcy lawyer at Pashman Stein Walder Hayden, said.
‘A recession is coming. I agree with economists that the increase in small business bankruptcies is a canary in a coal mine.’
Small business owners say they’re being crushed by rising costs.
Shop rents are climbing, products are more expensive to put on retail shelves, and cash-strapped Americans are spending less as they swap pricier local goods for cheaper options at Walmart and Amazon.
The shift is aggravating concerns that billion-dollar corporations, buoyed by soaring stock prices and bumper profits, are operating in a very different economy than small businesses.
‘Small business people might be short on money, but you won’t find a big box store that will work as hard as us to try and stay in the game,’ said Kelly Vore, whose 119-year-old shop closed on Christmas Eve.