Latest news with #NFIB
Wall Street Journal
6 hours ago
- Business
- Wall Street Journal
Still a Good-Not-Great Job Market at Small Firms
Expectations are for the Labor Department to report another sluggish month of U.S. job creation on Thursday. Among small firms, the good-but-not great job market continues, but at least June brought reports of a few more companies handing out raises. That's according to the latest monthly employer survey from the National Federation of Independent Business, due out later today. NFIB Chief Economist William Dunkelberg reports on the small firms participating in the survey:
Daily Mail
a day ago
- Health
- Daily Mail
Scientists discover new cause of aggressive cancer in young people... and a possible treatment
A little-known molecule in the body may be the key to treating aggressive cancer that often strikes young people, a study suggests. Researchers in New York reviewed records from 11,000 cancer patients to evaluate long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs), a type of RNA molecule that helps regulate gene behavior and distinguish healthy from non-healthy cells. While studying human breast tumor models, they found a specific type of lncRNA called LINC01235, which has previously been linked to stomach cancer, may be feeding breast cancer cells. The team tested their hypothesis using gene editing to 'turn off' LINC01235 in cells from triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC), an aggressive form of the disease that's resistant to standard hormonal treatments. They found cancer cells without LINC01235 grew more slowly and were worse at forming tumors than those with the activated molecule. The experts, from Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory on Long Island, believe LINC01235 activates another gene called NFIB, which has been shown to increase the risk of triple-negative breast cancer. NFIB then controls how cells grow and develop, leading to them becoming cancer cells. By turning off the molecule (LINC01235) that encourages the TNBC-linked gene (NFIB) to proliferate, researchers believe it could inhibit tumor growth and spread. Study researcher David Spector believes the findings could also lead to new treatments for triple-negative breast cancer, which accounts for 10 to 15 percent of breast cancer diagnoses and disproportionately is diagnosed in young women. He said: 'Our long-term goal is to try to find an lncRNA or multiple lncRNAs that may eventually be therapeutic targets.' Breast cancer is the most common cancer among women, affecting 316,000 per year and killing 42,000 in the US. About to 10 to 15 percent of breast cancers are triple-negative, adding up to as many as 47,000 cases and 6,300 deaths. Triple-negative means cancer cells don't have receptors that respond to the hormones estrogen and progesterone and the protein HER-2. Without these receptors, triple-negative breast cancers don't respond to treatments that target those hormones, making them harder to treat. Though the survival rate is over 90 percent if caught in earlier stages, those figures drop as low as 15 percent when the disease spreads to lymph nodes and other organs. It's most common in Black women and those under 40 and is one of the many forms of the disease on the rise, along with colon and lung cancers. In the new study, published in Molecular Cancer Research, tumor samples were taken from breast cancer patients in New York and used to make organoids, small models of tumors. They were then compared to healthy tissue samples. The researchers found breast cancer tumors had significantly higher expressions of LINC01235 than healthy tissue. LINC01235 was then deactivated with CRISPR, a type of gene editing that has mostly been tested in head, neck, gastrointestinal and brain cancers. Since tumor growth slowed when researchers deactivated LINC01235, the team suspected the molecule increases the growth of breast cancer cells. They suspected LINC01235 activates the gene NFIB, which has most often been tied to triple-negative breast cancer compared to other forms of breast cancer. It's believed NFIB suppresses the expression of p21, a protein that inhibits cell growth. With this protein suppressed, cancer cells can grow unchecked. Lead researcher Wenbo Xu, a graduate student at Stony Brook University, said: 'Our findings demonstrate that LINC01235 positively regulates NFIB transcription.' The team said the findings could be the first step in developing CRISPR technology to treat triple-negative breast cancer.
Forbes
6 days ago
- Business
- Forbes
Sales Trends On Main Street
Since 2020, the percent of firms reporting positive sales trends has trended downward (Chart 1). Reports of gains rose strongly between 2016 and 2019 but were interrupted by Covid in 2020. Sales then improved, but temporarily. After the initial improvement, sales have steadily declined ever since. Most recently, there has been an uptick in positive reports, but no clear trend has emerged. Sales are the lifeblood of small firms, supporting hiring and production activities. Chart 1: Actual Sales Changes. NFIB Small Business Economic Trends. Looking ahead to the next three months, owners are not very optimistic about future sales. In May, only 17% of all firms expect their real sales volume to increase, while 31% predict a decline (Chart 2). Nearly half (47%) of the non-professional service firms were optimistic about future sales trends, although nearly as many (40%) expect declines. Firms in the construction industry are quite optimistic as well, although about as many see a darker picture. Manufacturing firms seem to be on board with President Trump's re-industrialization campaign, landing at a net 8% expecting improved sales. However, only 5% of professional service firms expect sales gains, and 41% expect declines. Chart 2: Small Business Expectations of their Real Sales Volume. NFIB Small Business Economic ... More Trends. Looking at the NFIB Index of Small Business Optimism by industry (Chart 3), significant differences appear as well (expected sales are included in the Index). Optimism is highest in the construction and manufacturing industries, followed by finance and non-professional services (which are also leaders in positive sales expectations, as seen in Chart 2). The wholesale, retail, and agriculture industries, which are more directly dependent on consumer spending, all scored below 100 on the Index. Chart 3: Optimism Index by Industry. NFIB Small Business Economic Trends. Overall, the expectations for sales improvement are not very optimistic. Significant variations across industries are likely a reflection of policy uncertainty and expectations (interest rates, tax policy, and industrial focus), most of which will hopefully be resolved over the next few months.
NBC News
24-06-2025
- Business
- NBC News
Small business AI use is lagging, but one firm is channeling Sherlock Holmes and knocking out 'grunt work'
Chris Schwegmann is getting creative with how artificial intelligence is being used in law. At Dallas-based boutique law firm Lynn Pinker Hurst & Schwegmann, he sometimes asks AI to channel Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts or Sherlock Holmes. Schwegmann said after uploading opposing counsel's briefs, he'll ask legal technology platform Harvey to assume the role of a legal mind like Roberts to see how the chief justice would think about a particular problem. Other times, he will turn to a fictional character like Holmes, unlocking a different frame of mind. 'Harvey, ChatGPT ... they know who those folks are, and can approach the problem from that mindset,' he said. 'Once we as lawyers get outside those lanes, when we are thinking more creatively involving other branches of science, literature, history, mythology, that sometimes generates some of the most interesting ideas that can then be put, using proper legal judgement, in a framework that works to solve a legal problem.' It's just one example of how smaller businesses are putting AI to work to punch above their weight, and new data shows there's an opportunity for much more implementation in the future. Only 24% of owners in the recent Small Business and Technology Survey from the National Federation of Independent Business said they are using AI, including ChatGPT, Canva and Copilot, in some capacity. Notably, 98% of those using it said AI has so far not impacted the number of employees at their firms. At his trial litigation firm of 50 attorneys, Schwegmann said AI is resolving work in days that would sometimes take weeks, and said the technology isn't replacing workers at the firm. It has freed up associate lawyers from doing 'grunt work,' he said, and also means more senior-level partners have the time to mentor younger attorneys because everyone has more time. The NFIB survey found AI use varied based on the size of the small business. For firms with employees in the single digits, uptake was at 21%. At firms with fifty or more workers, AI implementation was at nearly half of all respondents. 'The data show clearly that uptake for the smallest businesses lags substantially behind their larger competitors. ... With a little attention from all the relevant stakeholders, a more equal playing field is possible,' the NFIB report said. For future AI use, 63% of all small employers surveyed said the utilization of the technology in their industry in the next five years will be important to some degree; 12% said it will be extremely important and 15% said it will not be important at all. Some of the most common uses in the survey were for communications, marketing and advertising, predictive analysis and customer service. 'We still have the need for the independent legal judgment of our associate lawyers and our partners — it hasn't replaced them, it just augments their thinking,' Schwegmann said. 'It makes them more creative and frees their time to do what lawyers do best, which is strategic thought and creative problem solving.' The NFIB data echoes a recent survey from Reimagine Main Street, a project of Public Private Strategies Institute in partnership with PayPal. Reimagine surveyed nearly 1,000 small businesses with annual revenue between $25,000 and $50,000 and also found that a quarter had already started integrating AI into daily workflows. Schwegmann said at his firm, AI is helping to even the playing field. 'One of the things Harvey lets us do is review, understand and incorporate and respond much faster than we would prior to the use of these kinds of AI tools,' he said. 'No longer does a party have an advantage because they can paper you to death.'
CNBC
24-06-2025
- Business
- CNBC
Small business AI use is lagging, but one firm is channeling Sherlock Holmes and knocking out 'grunt work'
Chris Schwegmann is getting creative with how artificial intelligence is being used in law. At Dallas-based boutique law firm Lynn Pinker Hurst & Schwegmann, he sometimes asks AI to channel Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts or Sherlock Holmes. Schwegmann said after uploading opposing counsel's briefs, he'll ask legal technology platform Harvey to assume the role of a legal mind like Roberts to see how the chief justice would think about a particular problem. Other times, he will turn to a fictional character like Holmes, unlocking a different frame of mind. "Harvey, ChatGPT ... they know who those folks are, and can approach the problem from that mindset," he said. "Once we as lawyers get outside those lanes, when we are thinking more creatively involving other branches of science, literature, history, mythology, that sometimes generates some of the most interesting ideas that can then be put, using proper legal judgement, in a framework that works to solve a legal problem." It's just one example of how smaller businesses are putting AI to work to punch above their weight, and new data shows there's an opportunity for much more implementation in the future. Only 24% of owners in the recent Small Business and Technology Survey from the National Federation of Independent Business said they are using AI, including ChatGPT, Canva and Copilot, in some capacity. Notably, 98% of those using it said AI has so far not impacted the number of employees at their firms. At his trial litigation firm of 50 attorneys, Schwegmann said AI is resolving work in days that would sometimes take weeks, and said the technology isn't replacing workers at the firm. It has freed up associate lawyers from doing "grunt work," he said, and also means more senior-level partners have the time to mentor younger attorneys because everyone has more time. The NFIB survey found AI use varied based on the size of the small business. For firms with employees in the single digits, uptake was at 21%. At firms with fifty or more workers, AI implementation was at nearly half of all respondents. "The data show clearly that uptake for the smallest businesses lags substantially behind their larger competitors. ... With a little attention from all the relevant stakeholders, a more equal playing field is possible," the NFIB report said. For future AI use, 63% of all small employers surveyed said the utilization of the technology in their industry in the next five years will be important to some degree; 12% said it will be extremely important and 15% said it will not be important at all. Some of the most common uses in the survey were for communications, marketing and advertising, predictive analysis and customer service. "We still have the need for the independent legal judgment of our associate lawyers and our partners — it hasn't replaced them, it just augments their thinking," Schwegmann said. "It makes them more creative and frees their time to do what lawyers do best, which is strategic thought and creative problem solving." The NFIB data echoes a recent survey from Reimagine Main Street, a project of Public Private Strategies Institute in partnership with PayPal. Reimagine surveyed nearly 1,000 small businesses with annual revenue between $25,000 and $50,000 and also found that a quarter had already started integrating AI into daily workflows. Schwegmann said at his firm, AI is helping to even the playing field. "One of the things Harvey lets us do is review, understand and incorporate and respond much faster than we would prior to the use of these kinds of AI tools," he said. "No longer does a party have an advantage because they can paper you to death."
