Small business optimism dives in June

Small business owners’ optimism plunged to its lowest level since last fall with a three-point drop in June, according to a monthly reading from the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB).

The NFIB’s small business optimism index fell to 91.4 in June. It hit its lowest point since dipping to 90.2 in October of 2011.

June’s index declined as business owners slashed plans to hire and make capital outlays. The portion of owners expecting to hire employees in the next three months tumbled three points to a seasonally adjusted net 3 percent.

Fewer small business owners expressed intentions to make capital expenditures in the next three to six months. Seasonally adjusted, 21 percent said they planned capital outlays in June, down 3 percent from May.

That slipping index component, which reflects the results of national surveying, holds true in New York state, according to NFIB New York State Director Mike Durant says.

“Many of our members that we hear from, if the economic conditions in terms of sales and their businesses were doing well, they would be able to get credit — if they only felt comfortable expanding,” he says.

The NFIB is a nonprofit organization that represents members in 50 states and Washington, D.C. It randomly surveyed 740 of its member businesses in the month of June to develop the optimism index.

Today’s index results do not reflect small-business owners’ reactions to a June 28 U.S. Supreme Court ruling upholding key portions of the federal health-care reform law, according to the NFIB. That ruling’s effects on small business optimism will be felt in the organization’s July index, set to be released next month. The NFIB is one of the parties that sued the federal government over the health-care reform law.

Contact Seltzer at rseltzer@cnybj.com