Small-Business Optimism improves slightly

The National Federation of Independent Business’ latest Small Business Economic Trends survey found that small-business optimism raised a fraction of a percent in July to 95.7%. However, of the 10 components tracked by the Small Business Optimism Index, the only two to show any change were the outlook for expansion and business conditions, which contributed to the 0.7-point increase in the monthly Index. State-specific data is not available, but Ben Homeyer, state director of NFIB/South Carolina, said July’s numbers were troubling. “Despite that 0.7-point gain, small-business optimism is still weak,” he said. “Our members are still worried about where things are headed.” NFIB/South Carolina is the state’s leading small-business association with about 4,000 dues-paying members representing a cross section of the state’s economy. Today’s report is based on the responses of 1,645 randomly sampled small businesses in NFIB’s membership, surveyed throughout the month of July. Download the complete study at http://www.nfib.com/sbetindex.