Small-Business Optimism rising

The National Federation of Independent Business’ Small Business Optimism Index rose 1.8 points in April to a post-recession high of 95.2. The economy continues to perform modestly and April’s index followed suit as it crossed the 95 marker for the first time since 2007. Seven Index components improved, one was unchanged and two fell. State-specific data is not available, but Ben Homeyer, state director of NFIB/South Carolina, said small-business owners across the state remain frustrated by the slow pace of recovery. “Our members may feel better than they did a year ago, but we’re still not where we should be,” he said. NFIB is South Carolina’s leading small-business association with nearly 4,000 dues-paying members representing a cross section of the state’s economy. “April’s Index did pass the 95 mark that seemed to block any progress in optimism for the past five years. However, the Index is still 5 points below the average reading from 1973 to 2008, and far from what is considered expansion levels. This reading can only be characterized as a high end recession reading,” said Bill Dunkelberg, NFIB chief economist. “Small business confidence rising is always a good thing, but it’s tough to be excited by meager growth in an otherwise tepid economy. Washington remains in a state of policy paralysis,” he said. “From the small business perspective there continues to be no progress on their top problems: cost of health insurance, uncertainty about economic conditions, energy costs, uncertainty about government actions, unreasonable regulation and red tape, and the tax code. So while the improvement is welcome, as long as small business owners continue to have negative views owners about the future, the 95 number may fade.” The report is based on the responses of 1,699 randomly sampled small businesses in NFIB’s membership, surveyed throughout the month of April. Download the complete study at http://www.nfib.com/sbetindex.