As inflation continued to slow last month, optimism improved among the more than 1,300 small businesses surveyed, though it remains subdued compared to pre-pandemic times.
Of owners hiring or trying to hire, 92% reported few or no qualified applicants for their available jobs, also unchanged from the prior month.
“With small business owners’ views about future sales growth and business conditions dismal, owners want to hire and make money now from solid consumer spending,” said Bill Dunkelberg, the NFIB’s chief economist, in a release.
Despite the economy holding steady, optimism among small businesses isn’t back to where it was before the pandemic.
Even though businesses are still grappling with difficulties in hiring, cooling inflation has taken some of the edge off.
Persons:
”, Bill Dunkelberg, they’ve
Organizations:
DC CNN, National Federation of Independent Business, Federal Reserve, Gross, Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, Labor Department, Wall Street
Locations:
Washington