Small-business optimism faltered in Jan.
After two consecutive months of strong optimism among small business owners, January saw a drop amid concerns about short-term business conditions, according to a key small-business association.
The National Federation of Independent Businesses (NFIB) cited a drop in optimism among its members in January, down 2.5 points to 97.9.
“November and December readings were very strong, possibly from post-election euphoria. January’s decline was mostly due to owners being less optimistic about business conditions,” Bill Dunkelberg, NFIB’s chief economist, said in a statement.
The drop in overall optimism was joined by a decline in other measures of business confidence since the organization’s December report. The largest decline was a drop of 12 points amid business owners’ expectations that the economy would improve in the following six months.. This was joined by a decline of 3 points among those planning to increase inventories, make capital outlays and who see it as a good time to expand.
There were good signs, however, including 26 percent of respondents saying they had job openings they could not fill.
“Even though there is a decline in optimism, the small business sector is operating in a somewhat normal zone. The increase in the percent of owners reporting hard to fill job openings is very good news,” Dunkelberg said.
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