Small-Business Confidence Sputters

Small-business optimism remained in tepid territory in June, as the National Federation of Independent Business’ monthly economic Index dropped just under a point and landed at 93.5, effectively ending any hope of a revival in confidence among job creators. Six of the 10 Index components fell, while two rose and two were unchanged. Job creation plans were slightly higher in June, but expectations for improved business conditions remained negative. The Index has been teetering between modest increases and setbacks for months. It was 12 points higher in June than at its lowest reading during the Great Recession, but it was still 7 points below the pre-2008 average and 14 points below the peak for the expansion. State-specific data is not available, but business owners here are just as wary as those in other states, said Ben Homeyer, state director of NFIB/South Carolina, the state’s leading small-business association, with 4,000 dues-paying members representing a broad cross section of South Carolina’s economy. “There’s no reason for small-business owners to feel optimistic right now, and there are plenty of things to worry about, like the looming ‘HIT’ of the health-insurance tax and a flood of new rules and regulations flowing out of Washington,” Homeyer said. The top business problems for small-business owners in June were taxes and regulations and red tape, with 20% of those surveyed ranking each as their No. 1 problem. Another 18% of owners cited weak sales as their top problem, but only 2% reported that financing was a major concern.  The report is based on the responses of 662 randomly sampled small businesses in NFIB’s membership, surveyed throughout the month of June. Download the complete study at http://www.nfib.com/sbetindex.