The National Observer | Daily Edition | May 4 | Small businesses still want to hire

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Layoffs at Amazon, Google, Microsoft and other high-profile companies may dominate headlines, but small-business owners are forging ahead with their own plans for growth, reports Andy Medici of The Business Journals.

Despite 625 tech companies laying off a total of nearly 185,000 employees in 2023, according to layoffs.fyi, and overall national economic growth slowing in the most recent quarter, business owners are still hiring — or at least trying to.

Small-business owners posted a 69% increase in job openings year over year, compared to the 35% increase in job postings for large businesses, according to Revelio Labs.

About 65% of business owners anticipate growing revenue over the next year, according to a survey of 1,000 business owners across the country by Bank of America Corp., and 53% added benefits and perks to retain talent.

Also in the news

• Investors seem to have awakened to the notion that providing the tools needed to power artificial intelligence could be a very good business.
• Big bank deals have broadly slowed over the past year, with some industry giants saying they are capable of making deals if not for the regulatory environment. So could the JP Morgan Chase & Co.'s acquisition of First Republic Bank open the door for others to make acquisitions?
• It turns out that in many cases, unicorn valuations — and their implicit promise of maturity and future success — were as grounded in reality as the fictional animal they were named after.
• Warmer weather has signaled the start of the travel season in the Pacific Northwest, but larger planes and more flights still probably won't be enough to match the surge in demand expected there and elsewhere in the U.S.

Thank you for reading. This newsletter was put together by Joshua Mann, who you can reach at jmann@bizjournals.com. Sign up for free here to subscribe to our daily email edition.