The rent crisis on Main Street just took a turn for the worse

The Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell said on Friday there will be “pain” to come in the economy as a result of the central bank’s battle with inflation, and right now, small businesses are experiencing that pain on both sides of the fight.

Inflation has been the No. 1 concern of small businesses for some time, as high prices in raw materials, labor, energy and transportation cut into margins. Higher rents, and landlords feeling more aggressive the farther away the nation moves from the peak of Covid, have compounded the hit from inflation being felt on Main Street. While there are some signs of inflation easing across the economy, that’s because the Fed is intentionally cooling demand,…