Despite predictions of a coming recession, national small business confidence was on the upside last month.
A new survey released by the National Federal of Independent Business showed an overall 91.8 index reading in August, up nearly two points from the preceding month.
While the survey additionally indicated that 29% of small business owners said they were most concerned about inflation, that figure was smaller than a mid-summer reading of 37%.
Marginally increased optimism was also seen in the 42% of respondents who indicated that they thought overall business conditions would improve between now and early 2023. Only 32% of respondents expressed similar confidence in July.
In a statement, Bill Dunkelberg, chief economist with the NFIB, remarked that the slightly improved level of confidence must be seen in the context recent months: “The small business economy is still recovering from the pandemic while inflation continues to be a serious problem for owners across the nation.”
Dunkelberg added that small businesses in general remain tasked with a variety of challenges, including the increasing cost of utilities, supplies, labor, and fuel, not to mention a worker shortage impacting productivity as “owners raise compensation to attract better workers.”
On supply side issues, the latest NFIB survey also showed that 32% of owners said supply chain disruptions have had a significant impact on their businesses, with 33% reporting a moderate impact, and 23% a mild impact.
The wide-ranging impact of the supply issue was seen in the fact that only 11% of respondents said their businesses had experienced no impact due to supply chain disruptions.
By Garry Boulard
