Daily News

View All News

Small business optimism down

October 08, 2013

Pessimism about future business conditions prompted small-business optimism to edge down in September, according to the National Federation of Independent Business. The organization's optimism index dipped 0.20 of a point from August’s reading of 94.1 to a September reading of to 93.9.

While most of the index’s 10 components showed little change, “expected business conditions six months ahead” fell by 8 points.

“The change in this month’s Index was little more than ‘statistical noise,’ but the drop in outlook for future economic conditions is evidence that many owners are keeping an eye on Washington,” said NFIB Chief Economist Bill Dunkelberg.

Twenty percent of all owners reported job openings they could not fill in September — up one point — and 14 percent reported using temporary workers, down two points from August.

The report is based on the responses of 773 randomly sampled small businesses in NFIB’s membership, surveyed throughout the month of September.