U.S. small business owners are feeling frustrated and stressed about inflation and the general state of the economy, with many forced to raise prices, work longer hours, and pay more for labor, according to a new survey by NEXT Insurance, a leading digital insurtech company transforming small business insurance.

As the consumer price index surged to nearly 8% in February—a 40-year high— it's the smallest businesses who are bearing the brunt of the turmoil: while nearly 40% of small businesses surveyed say they're feeling frustrated or stressed by the state of America's workforce, businesses with 20 or more employees are feeling significantly more optimistic (43%) than companies with 9 employees or less (22%), the survey found.

NEXT, which provides customized insurance policies to more than 300,000 small business customers across the U.S., revealed these findings today after surveying 1000 small business owners across the U.S. with at least one employee.

The findings revealed a grim outlook for the future, with only 29% of respondents saying they felt optimistic about an economic recovery in the next 12 months. About 35% of small business owners said they were considering shutting down their business, with 8% of those saying they've "thought about it a lot."