Small-businesses see no recovery so far

The overwhelming majority of small businesses surveyed by PNC Financial Services Group Inc. said they believe the nation's economy has yet to improve from the recession that began more than two years ago.

In the PNC Economic Outlook released Thursday, 92 percent of the small businesses saw no improvement, and 60 percent predicted a recovery is 13 to 24 months away.

The survey also found that few of the businesses plan to seek a new loan or line of credit.

On the plus side, there was a small rise in the share of companies expecting an increase in sales over the next six months - 47 percent in the new survey compared with 40 percent in last fall's survey. Also, 22 percent now expect to add employees in the next six months compared with 17 percent last fall.

"These findings support PNC's forecast that the U.S. economy's ongoing 'half-speed' recovery will be sustained throughout 2010 and beyond," the bank's chief economist, Stuart Hoffman, said.

The telephone survey of more than 1,200 small-business executives nationwide was conducted in mid-February. The companies have annual revenue of $100,000 to $250 million each.

PNC, of Pittsburgh, has the fourth-largest share of the Philadelphia banking market, based on deposits.    - Paul Schweizer