Small, family-run businesses are facing mounting pressure as new data points to rising job losses under the Trump administration.
Firms with fewer than 10 workers have now cut jobs for 13 consecutive months, according to a new analysis by Democratic staff on the U.S. Congress Joint Economic Committee, first obtained by CNN.
Small mom-and-pop businesses cut about 292,200 jobs in 2025, according to the analysis.
That’s the biggest yearly drop in a decade, and far worse than the 87,800 jobs lost in 2024. Notably, four times more jobs were lost in 2025 than were cut in 2020, during the pandemic.
Job losses were seen across retail (-41,700), manufacturing (-38,600), construction (-17,700), and wholesale (-10,400). All those industries have experienced a decline in monthly revenues since April 2025.
The downturn comes as small businesses grapple with mounting financial pressure from tariffs, elevated borrowing costs, and rising health insurance expenses, while higher fuel prices linked to the conflict with Iran have added another layer of strain.
Gasoline prices have surged more than 40 percent since late February, when U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran caused Tehran to block off the Strait of Hormuz, a key shipping passage through which roughly one-fifth of global oil is transported.
The supply shock has pushed prices higher worldwide, and the impact is being passed on to businesses.
“There is something so wrong with this economy right now. My customers are buying less, and they are buying down,” pet supply store owner Trevor Frampton told CNN. “The only option left is reduction in force—and that just makes my stomach turn.”
“Small businesses are getting frustrated. They can’t make ends meet, and some are going out of business,” manufacturing business owner Shirley Modlin added. “Stop the game-playing. This is not a game. This is people’s lives.”
Trump has tried to ease concerns among small businesses by rolling out tax breaks, including exemptions on tips for some workers.
While some owners told CNN the measures have helped, many said the relief still has not been enough to counter rising costs and price increases.
“Restaurant profit margins are already so low – often under 10 percent – that any kind of tariff or inflation can be make-or-break,” Jaja Chen, co-owner of three tea cafes in Texas, told CNN.
Trump’s tariffs are also hitting small businesses. An analysis by the Center for American Progress found that small businesses importing goods have paid an average of $306,000 more in tariffs since the Trump administration rolled out its trade policies.
“These small firms simply did not possess the capital depth or adequate margins to absorb the increase in trade taxes,” Joe Brusuelas, chief U.S. economist at RSM, told CNN.
The White House said Trump has supported small businesses through tax cuts, major regulatory rollbacks, and reforms aimed at prioritizing American workers.
“President Trump has worked diligently to empower small businesses by providing historic tax relief in the Working Families Tax Cut, eliminating more than $110 billion in regulatory costs, and putting American workers first through critical SBA reforms,” White House spokeswoman Taylor Rogers told CNN.
The Daily Beast has contacted the White House for comment.
