The April Index of Small Business Optimism increased to 92.1 from 89.5, just above the recovery average of 90.7, the National Federation of Independent Business said Tuesday.
Four index components rose, two fell and four were unchanged. Despite the increase in the index, pessimism remains within the sector, as far more respondents expect business conditions to worsen in the coming half year
than those who predict improvement.
"Small-business confidence saw an uptick this last month, but it was a ho hum, yawn, at-least-it-didn't-go-down reading. The sub-par recovery persists for the small business sector," said NFIB chief economist Bill Dunkelberg in a release. "Economic performance is contradictory - corporate profits are at record levels and the stock market hits new highs, yet GDP growth for the past six months has averaged about 1.5% and the unemployment rate is 7.5%. Nothing in the NFIB data suggests that the small business half of the economy is expanding other than by an amount driven by population growth and associated new business starts now in excess of terminations. The lack of leadership in Washington and the resulting uncertainty depresses consumers' and business owners' willingness to spend and invest, and make bets on the future."
