
This will help put a damper on inflation, but at the cost of lower employment. Capital spending and inventory investment are down.

Apparently not on Main Street according to small business owners. The government keeps reporting large employment gains but it is not clear where they find them. But overall, the number of firms reporting employment gains has been falling gradually. Thirty -one percent of owners reported that inflation was their single most important problem encountered in operating their business, an increase of 5 points. The Index has declined every month this year. However, in the current recession, the NFIB Small Business Optimism Index remains far lower. OPTIMISM INDEX The Optimism Index decreased in March by 2.4 points to 93.2, the third consecutive month below the 48 -year average of 98. But in some industries, such as construction, health care, transportation, and some consumer services, spending and therefore labor demand remains strong. Small businesses have lead the economy out of past recessions. “Small business owners remain very pessimistic about future business conditions and their sales prospects. Owners are still raising selling prices at an inflationary level to try to pass on higher inventory, labor, and energy costs.” “Inflation and labor shortages continue to be great challenges for small businesses. “Halfway through the year, small business owners remain very pessimistic about future business conditions and their sales prospects,” said NFIB Chief Economist Bill Dunkelberg.

Here’s are some excerpts from the latest report: More than half of small business owners are seeking to hire new employees, and of those, 92% reported few or no qualified applicants for the positions they were trying to fill. Employment, inflation, and lingering supply chain issues continue to plague small businesses. While an improvement from last month, the outlook of small business owners remains very pessimistic. The latest NFIB Small Business Optimism Index for June increased 1.6 points to 91.0, its 18 th consecutive month below the survey’s 49-year average of 98.0. economy – at least 2 of every 3 new jobs – are in small businesses. (May 10, 2022) The NFIB Small Business Optimism Index was unchanged in April, remaining at 93.2 and the fourth consecutive month below the 48-year average of 98. This release is an important one to follow each month as small businesses are quicker to react to a changing economic climate and a large part of the U.S.
NFIB SMALL BUSINESS OPTIMISM INDEX SERIES
The series goes back to 1973 (quarterly surveys, monthly starting in 1986) and is released on the second Tuesday of each month. The index component with the highest change from last month belonged to “expected credit conditions.” The report also predicted that this year will see better economic growth than last year, in a near-parallel of a rush seen in 1983.The National Federation of Independent Businesses (NFIB) collects small business trend data by surveying their membership base on a monthly basis. In this latest report, half of these saw increases, including “plans to increase employment,” “current job openings” and “earnings trends.


To calculate this index, the NFIB factors ten different components into the equation, based on business responses. 1 points, it put the overall ranking at 105.9, continuing an unbroken trend of recent growth and reaching a level of optimism not seen since Dec. This included reports of the latest changes to the Small Business Optimism Index. The National Federation of Independent Business revealed promising growth statistics as part of its January 2017 Small Business Economic Trends report. While some may be wary about the business policies of a new presidential administration, recent data showed high hopes dominated the past few months.
