Small-Business Owners Grew Less Confident in January
February 09 2016 - 08:20AM
Dow Jones News
Small-business owners turned less optimistic about their
economic prospects in January as a tumultuous stock market and
intensifying concerns over global growth took a toll on
confidence.
The National Federation of Independent Business's small-business
optimism index, based on a survey of about 1,400 owners, slipped
1.3 points to 93.9, the lowest level in about two years. In 2015,
the gauge averaged 96.1.
Most of the January decline was due to waning optimism over
future business conditions and expected sales. "Uncertainty
continues to cloud the future," the trade group said.
Respondents signaled the worst sentiment in 27 months when it
comes to prospects six months out, and they reined in expectations
for revenue in the coming months after having grown increasingly
optimistic at the end of the year.
Still, hiring and overall spending among small businesses
remained solid last month. Hiring was the best since September,
though an elevated number of firms continue to express difficulty
in finding applicants with the right skills for the jobs they seek
to fill.
Amid that latest sign of slack in the labor market, newly hired
workers were better compensated. A seasonally adjusted net 27% of
small-business owners reported raising worker compensation, the
strongest increase in firms raising pay since 2007. Meanwhile, a
net 11% of small-business owners said they plan to create new jobs
in the coming months, down from a high 15% in December but on par
with the average reported last year.
The NFIB's findings on small-business hiring follow a January
report from payroll processor Automatic Data Processing Inc. and
forecasting firm Moody's Analytics that showed another solid month
of hiring from the small-business contingent helped offset a
pullback in hiring at America's largest firms.
At least for now, small-business owners signaled the decline in
sentiment wasn't affecting spending or expansion plans. Despite a
broader trend of corporations slashing spending budgets, firms
surveyed by the NFIB continued to make capital outlays at a solid
clip and they suggested no planned changes to capital expenditures
in the months ahead. That is as a rising number of owners said it
is a good time to expand.
Write to Lisa Beilfuss at lisa.beilfuss@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
February 09, 2016 08:05 ET (13:05 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP)
Historical Stock Chart
From Feb 2024 to Mar 2024
Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP)
Historical Stock Chart
From Mar 2023 to Mar 2024