Add rent to the rising costs bedeviling small businesses

By MAE ANDERSON
AP Business Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — The rent has come due for America’s small businesses and at a very inopportune time. Landlords were lenient about rent payments during the first two years of the pandemic. Now, many are asking for back rent, and some are raising the current rent as well. Meanwhile, most aid programs for small businesses have ended, while inflation has sharply pushed up the cost of supplies, shipping, and labor. Thirty-three percent of all U.S. small businesses could not pay their May rent in full and on time, up 5% from April, according to a survey from Alignable, a small business referral network.