Small businesses have taken yet another hit to sales and the workforce

The latest Xero Small Business Insights for the quarter ending in September shows sales fell to 2.7-percent year on year.

Its a bigger decline than the 1.4-percent year-on-year fall recorded in the second quarter.

Xero Country Manager Bridget Snelling says a third of small business are also downsizing their workforce.

She says it is the most since early 2020 when lockdowns were impacting the business landscape.