(The Center Square) – After a sluggish start at the beginning of the year, new business filings in Ohio continue to grow.
Secretary of State Frank LaRose announced 15,917 new business filings in August, the fourth consecutive month filings grew in Ohio.
The news comes as the National Federation of Small Business’ Business Optimism Index fell 0.6% to 91.3 in August, the 20th straight month the number fell below the group’s 49-year average of 98.
The survey showed 23% of small business owners believe inflation is their biggest problem, up 2 points from last month. Also, owners raising prices grew 2 points to 27%.
Nationwide, 37% of owners believe conditions will improve over the next six months, a drop of 7 points, and 40% said they continue to struggle to fill positions.
“With small business owners’ views about future sales growth and business conditions discouraging, owners want to hire and make money now from strong consumer spending,” said Bill Dunkelberg, chief economist at the National Federation of Independent Business. “Inflation and the worker shortage continue to be the biggest obstacles for Main Street.”
The Ohio August new business numbers follow a strong July, in which new business filings rose by 12% over the same time last year, as previously reported by The Center Square.
The state set a first-quarter record for new filings in March despite a fall in March figures compared to a year ago.
The first-quarter numbers were nearly 1,500 more than the same point a year ago, following 2019, 2020 and 2021, all record-setting years in the state.
New businesses rose in May after falling in April.
The state had 179,639 new business startup filings in 2022, which was a little less than 20,000 filed in the record year of 2021. Despite several months of filings below the previous year, it was the second most in state history.
New business filings are classified as forms filed with the secretary of state that declare the formation of a business entity, including for-profit, nonprofit and professional corporations, limited liability companies, partnerships, limited partnerships and limited liability partnerships. Filing as a business in Ohio does not guarantee the company will begin operations.
