Using data from the Fed’s Small Business Credit Survey: 2023 Report on Employer Firms, four briefs offer a snapshot of small business conditions across the states in the Third District (Delaware, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania). These short, graphic reports focus on responses to the survey from New Jersey, Pennsylvania, the Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington metropolitan statistical area, and the Third District states overall, respectively.

The briefs illustrate what firms in our region reported in 2022 about:

  • their overall financial condition
  • applying for financing; and
  • their top financial and operational challenges.

The briefs also make comparisons with what small businesses reported to the survey in 2021.

The Federal Reserve’s Small Business Credit Survey is a national sample of small businesses, or firms with fewer than 500 employees, aimed at providing insight into firms’ financing and debt needs and experiences. The Fed conducted its survey from September through November 2022, with nearly 8,000 responses nationwide.