SMALL BUSINESS PLAYBOOK

Economists think inflation has peaked. Main Street is preparing for more pain

• An overwhelming majority of small business owners say they expect inflation to continue to rise, according to a quarterly poll conducted by CNBC and SurveyMonkey.
• That comes amid conflicting economic indicators and consumer sentiment data related to peak inflation, ranging from a higher than expected PPI reading to gas prices falling below the level from a year ago.
• While small business owners' outlook is slightly colored by their political affiliation, nearly all are worried about inflation's impact on their business.