More than half of U.S. small business owners, 53%, plan to maintain current staffing levels, according to a survey for the Wells Fargo/Gallup small business index. And 52% said it is "very unlikely" tax credits for hiring unemployed workers would encourage them to hire new employees in 2010.

"Small businesses are critical to the health and strength of our economy as they employ about half of the private sector workforce and create more than 60% of net new jobs annually in the U.S.," said Doug Case, small business segment manager at Wells Fargo. "This has been a challenging period for small businesses. They are looking for assurance of an economic rebound before staffing for growth."

The survey was based on telephone interviews with 603 small business owners across the country between April 12 and 16.