The National Federation of Independent Businesses (NFIB) has released statistics pertaining to small business optimism this year. While the latest updates to the Small Business Optimism Index show no immediate change, the latest data does allow small businesses to see the overarching trends in an annual context. Although the index has fluctuated within the past decade, since 2013 it has generally been on an upward swing since June, currently standing at 96.1.
This index is updated to meet seasonal indicators and has been active since 1975. Figures are based on 10 different survey factors and are accompanied by information about relevant changes that affect small businesses.
For example, the current candidate for most urgent “small business problem” is “red tape,” which accounted for 22 percent of responses. Other high-ranking problems include taxes and quality of labor.
These findings come from 1,411 different responses, the majority of which come from the retail industry. The number of participants is higher at the beginning of a new quarter, since the level of respondents has only ever exceeded 1,400 so far this year in July, April and January.
So far, the highest Index ranking for 2015 came in May when it reached 98.3, slightly above the long-term average. Last year, the index surpassed 98 only once, in November, but also exceeded 100 in December, the only time this has happened in the past five years.
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