Nearly one-third of small businesses surveyed last month reported having trouble filling job openings.

Start Up NIarketing Many of, the businesses surveyed consider electronic marketing to be a benefit in helping to solve problems in customer service support.

And one-third of small businesses surveyed by Dun & Bradstreet, forced to shop for new coverage because of rising costs, selected medical savings accounts.

Only half of businesses recently surveyed felt that the Olympics will boost consumer confidence with this falling to just one in five in Scotland.

Still, as with many businesses surveyed by OPEN, Metro's profit margin has been squeezed, he said.

To keep expenses down, only half of the businesses surveyed by Union Bank provided health benefits, and of those, about 20 percent had shifted more of the cost to employees last year.

Nearly three-quarters (74 percent) of the small businesses surveyed said "the recent health care law makes it harder for their business to hire more employees."

Only 57 percent of businesses surveyed in Louisiana for the payroll report responded.

More than half of the businesses surveyed said their payrolls had grown over the last month.

Just 4pc of medium-sized businesses surveyed by the CBI currently use corporate bonds to raise finance.