New risks for small businesses

By Joyce M. Rosenberg

NEW YORK — As the U.S. economy undergoes an uneven recovery from the coronavirus pandemic, many small-business owners face a tough decision on whether and when to take on employees.

The pandemic forced Meghan Gardner to let go of 16 staffers at Guardian Adventures, which ran educational summer camps, part of an industry decimated by the outbreak. While Gardner got a Paycheck Protection Program loan and ran online camps in the summer, by October she couldn’t afford to pay her employees.

Gardner would like to build her company back up, but the virus is still raging and the future for children’s group activities is still uncertain. She’s worried about the summer of 2021 being a repeat of 2020.

So, for the time being, she’s working as a consultant and holding off hiring.

“If I don’t have my business up and running and make enough money to pay my employees, I’d have to lay them off again,” says Gardner, whose company is based in Burlington, Massachusetts.

Owners such as Gardner who are rebuilding a business or starting anew after losing their companies are hesitant to make hiring commitments because it’s unclear not only when the pandemic will end, but whether they’ll have enough revenue to justify bringing employees on.

For many owners, it’s a question

WASHINGTON — America’s employers barely added jobs last month, underscoring the viral pandemic’s ongoing grip on the economy and likely adding momentum to the Biden administration’s push for a bold rescue aid package.

The increase of just 49,000 positions in January made scarcely any dent in the nearly 10 million jobs that remain lost since the virus intensified nearly a year ago. The tepid increase followed a decline of 227,000 jobs in December, the first loss since April.

The unemployment rate fell

Gotham Bar & Grill in New York City hopes to reopen by this summer, but will likely have just 35 staffers instead of the 100 it had before closing last March.