Business
What Small Businesses Tell Us About the Economy That Wall Street Can't
New research from GoDaddy and UCLA Anderson Forecast finds that small business data offers earlier and stronger indication of upcoming U.S. economic performance than traditional measures such as the stock market. Last quarter's data captures digital business activity rising year-over-year.
About this update from Godaddy Inc.
[{"type":"text","content":"New GoDaddy Small Street data shows digital business growth accelerating in late 2025, signalling stronger job gains ahead","length":122,"tagName":"p","attribs":{}},{"type":"text","content":"TEMPE, Ariz., March 3, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- New research from GoDaddy and UCLA Anderson Forecast finds that small business data offers earlier and stronger indication of upcoming U.S. economic performance than traditional measures such as the stock market. Last quarter's data captures digital business activity rising year-over-year.","length":338,"tagName":"p"},{"type":"text","content":"By bringing digital small businesses into the picture for the first time, the research shows how entrepreneurship can act as an early barometer of national economic health, complementing rather than replacing established measures. The findings come at a time when financial markets, jobs data, and on the ground, perceptions often tell different stories.","length":354,"tagName":"p"},{"type":"text","content":"What Small Street Is Showing Today","length":34,"tagName":"p"},{"type":"text","content":"In the fourth quarter of 2025, GoDaddy's Participation Index rose compared to Q4 2024, signalling renewed growth in digital small business activity nationally. Historically, increases in the index have preceded stronger payroll employment growth and declines in unemployment within three to four quarters. The latest reading points to economic conditions consistent with improving job growth in the months ahead.","length":416,"tagName":"p"},{"type":"text","content":"The report, "What Small Businesses Tell Us About the Economy That Wall Street Can't" introduces "Small Street" as a complementary economic lens built for this moment, giving small business data a seat alongside traditional market and macroeconomic indicators. While establishment-based data often arrives with a lag or reflects only national trends, Small Street adds a more real-time layer of insight by tracking entrepreneurial activity across millions of digital small and micro-businesses. Drawing on signals such as the number of digital entrepreneurs, new digital ventures, and GoDaddy's proprietary Participation Index, the lens captures shifts within a few months at a highly granular, local level.","length":734,"tagName":"p"},{"type":"text","content":"Key findings include:","...