Signs abound of weakness for small business.
While the
National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB)'s Optimism Index rose 0.4 point to 96.1 in August, the second-highest reading since October 2007, cracks appear beneath the surface.
Measures of plans to increase employment, expectations of higher real sales and views of whether now is a good time to expand fell last month.
Editor’s Note: 5 Shocking Reasons the Dow Will Hit 60,000
The four "hard" measures (job creation plans, job openings, capital spending plans and inventory investment plans) were collectively unchanged, and the other 6 components added to the Index a bit to produce a modest gain.
"The business environment is not favorable," said William Dunkelberg, NFIB's chief economist Dunkelberg, according to
CNBC. "Six months from now, more business owners think things will be worse off than those who think things will be better."
Small businesses' borrowing demand remains near record lows, and they don't want to increase inventories or boost investment much, he said in a statement.
"There is still no evidence that we are about to ramp up spending and hiring to 3 percent GDP growth levels."
Jared Meyer, a policy analyst at the Manhattan Institute, sees regulation as a major part of the problem. In the last seven years, usage of the words "shall" and "must" has soared 27 percent in business regulations, he told CNBC.
"The regulatory maze, as far as the government saying you can't work or do this or that without an extensive permit or license means they can't expand," Meyer said. "That's where you are seeing hiring falling out."
Editor’s Note: 5 Shocking Reasons the Dow Will Hit 60,000
© 2025 Newsmax Finance. All rights reserved.