Using data from the Fed’s Small Business Credit Survey: 2023 Report on Employer Firms, this brief offers a snapshot of business conditions in 2022 in the Philadelphia–Camden–Wilmington, PA–NJ–DE–MD metropolitan statistical area. The short, graphic report illustrates what 351 firms in the Philadelphia metro said about their overall conditions, financing needs, and their top challenges.
More than half of the firms in the Philadelphia metro had not seen revenue improvements since 2021, while 44 percent saw an increase in revenue. Most firms reported that financial conditions were either poor or fair.
As more pandemic assistance programs were phased out in 2022, more than half did not apply for pandemic-related financial assistance. Still, firms continued to demonstrate demand for funding: 31 percent applied for nonemergency loans, lines of credit, or merchant cash advances. The most popular of these were lines of credit, business loans, and Small Business Administration loans.
The most widely cited operational challenges among Philadelphia metro small businesses were supply chain issues, hiring or retaining qualified staff, and reaching customers or growing sales. The most severe financial challenges cited were increased costs of goods, services, and/or wages; paying operating expenses; and weak sales.
View the Full Brief