It seems nobody’s coming to rescue American families from the affordability crisis, and as such, many are taking matters into their own hands with a stab at entrepreneurship.
A new business formations report shows that March set a record, with 624,915 new companies registered in a single month. This is an all-time high, according to Registered Agents, the U.S.’s largest business formation services provider.
Entrepreneurship momentum continued in April, marking 560,194 new formations — a 9% increase over the same month a year prior.
It comes as the wallets of everyday Americans remain strained. Inflation is sticky, with CPI reports continually coming in hotter than expected: In April, the all-items index increased 3.8% before seasonal adjustment. Pressure is coming from energy prices as tensions in the Middle East rumble on, choking global oil and gas supplies as a result.
This inflation is visible to consumers, as UBS’s Paul Donovan noted yesterday: “Since U.S. President Trump took office, coffee prices have risen 24%, beef over 19%, gasoline over 19%, and vegetables 10.5%. These are price increases that consumers notice and remember.”
Sentiment is nosediving as a result: The University of Michigan’s consumer sentiment survey for May found that the outlook was at a record low with a reading of 48.2 — comparable to the trough reached in June 2022.
In the face of such gloom, individuals are trying to make their own fortunes.
“We are witnessing a profound shift in the American workforce,” said Molly Cavanah, Registered Agents’ VP of revenue growth and data. “This growth is in direct response to an economy where ‘under-employed’ Americans are building side hustles to bridge the gap between rising costs and limited income.”
The report echoes findings from regional bank KeyBank last year — even before the Iran crisis, and gas prices rising in turn — 35% of more than 1,000 American respondents said they were pursuing a side hustle to help pay the bills.
The Registered Agents data also tracks new entity filings at the state level across all 50 states and the District of Columbia, and in March, Florida emerged as the state with the most registrations.
While the Sunshine State led with more than 67,000 registrations, it was followed by Texas with 47,348, California with 40,399 and Delaware with 28,882.
Confidence on the up
Despite the consumer outlook being weak, business confidence is actually on the rise: Those who are launching businesses feel good about their prospects.
Citing its client base of hundreds of thousands of people (though without providing specifics), Registered Agents also provides a snapshot of entrepreneurship sentiment. On the national level, 46% of business owners said their companies were in a stronger position compared to this time last year. Likewise, 54% of people said they were very optimistic about the next 12 months for their organizations.
These green shoots of optimism are echoed by the monthly business confidence report from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), which said that for May sentiment ticked up by a marginal 0.06%. While only a small margin, it marks a change compared to 2025 when sentiment was actually negative.
Likewise, the Conference Board’s latest quarterly CEO Confidence report shows the outlook is significantly improving, rising by 11 points from 48 in Q4 2025. (A reading above 50 reflects more positive than negative responses).
Written by Eleanor Pringle for Fortune as “Business formations hit all-time high as ‘under-employed’ Americans turn to side hustles to make ends meet” and republished with permission.
