According to the National Federation of Independent Business's (NFIB) Monthly Report on small business economic trends for August, small business owners are slightly more optimistic than they were in July. The report cites "improved expectations for future business conditions and real sales volumes" as the main reason for the two-point gain in the Index of Small Business Optimism, which rose to 88.6 percent since last month's report. A net 10 percent expect business conditions to improve over the next six months, which is a 13-point improvement from July.
Although the economy seems to be improving, 8 percent of business owners are still not filling open jobs. However, this figure is down one point from July. And while net zero percent of business owners reported that they are planning to create new jobs, the number is a three-point improvement over July. The percentage of owners reporting raising worker compensation-net 6 percent-went unchanged since July.
While business owners reporting positive profit trends is at net negative 40 percent, this is a five-point increase from last month's report.
In terms of plans for capital spending over the next few months, there was a two-point drop since July, revisiting the survey's record low of 16 percent, which was reached in 1975 and in March of this year.
For more findings from this month's NFIB Monthly Report, download a copy here.
