U.S. Small Business Confidence Up in July

Small business optimism edged up in July, according to the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB). The NFIB’s Small Business Optimism Index increased 0.6 point to 94.1 last month, recouping most of June’s decline, and was the fourth highest reading since December 2007, when the economy slipped into recession. In July, six of the Index’s ten components advanced, and an increasing share of small-business owners are thinking about expanding their staff or facilities. The sub-index covering new job creation plans increased two points to 9 percent, the highest share since August 2012. The net percentage of owners who say now is a good time to expand also increased two points to 9 percent, the best reading since January 2012. There were also improvements in readings on inventory and the expected real sales sub-index increased two percentage points to 7 percent. The expected business conditions sub-index, however, slipped two points to -6 percent. The report is based on the responses of 1,615 randomly sampled small businesses in NFIB’s membership.