NFIB Small Business Optimism index dips in March

After three months of small increases, the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) Index of Small Business Optimism fell 1.3 points to 89.5 in March.

In the 44 months of economic expansion since the start of the economic recovery in July 2009, the index has averaged 90.7, placing the March reading below the mean for this period, the NFIB, a small-business advocacy organization, said today in a news release.

Of the 10 Small Business Optimism index components, two increased, two remained unchanged, and six declined. Labor-market indicators, inventory-investment plans, and sales expectations were among the greatest decliners, according to the NFIB.

Small businesses are deeply concerned about the direction of the country, Bill Dunkelberg, NFIB chief economist, said in the news release. 

“After another false start, small-business confidence has sputtered and stalled again. For the sector that produces half the private GDP and employs half the private-sector workforce, the fact that they are not growing, not hiring, not borrowing and not expanding like they should be, is evidence enough that uncertainty is slowing the economy,” said Dunkelberg. “Virtually no owners think the current period is a good time to expand, because they simply don’t know what the future holds. So why invest?”

Small businesses are still fighting against strong headwinds despite record profits for the big corporations, NFIB New York Director Michael Durant, said in the news release.

“It’s more obvious every month that what’s happening on Wall Street is disconnected from what’s happening on Main Street,” said Durant. 

The NFIB report is based on the responses of 759 randomly sampled small businesses in the organization’s membership. The NFIB conducted the survey throughout March.

For more on this story, check out the April 12 issue of The Central New York Business Journal.

Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com