Small-Business Optimism Survey

The National Federation of Independent Business’ monthly Index of Small Business Optimism increased 1.9 points in February to 90.8,  an improvement over the past several months but still below the trough of the 1991-92 and 2001-02 recessions. Of the 10 Index components, one fell, one remained unchanged and eight improved but were still low  by historical standards. State-specific data isn’t available, but Ben Homeyer, state director of NFIB/South Carolina, said what’s happening locally is a reflection of national trends. “The bottom line is that small, family-owned businesses still don’t have a lot of confidence,” he said. “Small-business owners are still wary about where we’re headed.” NFIB/South Carolina is the state’s largest small-business association. The report is based on the responses of 870 randomly sampled small businesses in NFIB’s membership, surveyed throughout the month of February. Download the complete study at http://www.nfib.com/sbetindex.