Small Business Outlook Improves Slightly

In spite of a terrible jobs report from the Labor Department and an increase in the number who view the current period as a terrible time to expand, small-business owners continue to show their resilience; last month they were even a bit more optimistic about improvements in real sales volumes and business conditions.

The survey shows only 12% of consumers think the government is doing a good job and 46% feel government is doing a bad job. And while the top ranked problem (out of 75) in the recently released NFIB Problems and Priorities survey was health insurance costs, the second and fourth ranked problems were "uncertainty about the economy" and "uncertainty about government policy." This goes a long way toward explaining why spending seems to be in "maintenance mode." With 50/50 odds in the polls, the president will be determined by the flip of a coin. The policy outcomes depending on who wins appear to be hugely different, and consequently, owners are not betting their hard earned money on the flip of a coin. They are waiting for more certainty about the direction of the economy and policy.