2nd coronavirus wave has OKC small business owners worried about future, study says

OKLAHOMA CITY (KOKH)--According to a study conducted by LendingTree, 74 percent of small business owners in Oklahoma City believe it will take four months or longer before their businesses return to normal.

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During the first wave of the coronavirus, only 61 percent of small business owners thought that it would take four or more months before their businesses returned to normal.

Researchers at LendingTree used U.S. Census Bureau Small Business Pulse Survey data from the 50 largest metros to see where business owner's outlooks have changed since the first wave of the pandemic.

According to the study, 80 percent of small business owners in New Orleans believe it will take at least four months before their businesses return to normal. Only 61 percent of small business owners in New Orleans believed it would take four months during the first wave of the pandemic.

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New Orleans, San Antonio and Birmingham, Ala., small business owners experienced the largest shift in expectations between the first and second COVID-19 waves. Small business owners in Miami, Jacksonville, Seattle, Salt Lake City, and San Francisco experienced no shift in expectations between the first and second coronavirus waves.

To read the full study, click here.