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The
National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) said its
small business optimism index dropped one point to a reading of
92.9 last month, with none of the index's components showing an
increase. The index decreased 1.3 percentage points in January.
"Spending and hiring plans weakened a bit as expectations for
growth in real sales volumes fell. Earnings trends worsened a
bit as owners continued to report widespread gains in worker
compensation while holding the line on price increases," the
NFIB said in statement.
The sustained weakness is at odds with economic data such as
employment, consumer spending and manufacturing that have
suggested a pick-up in economic activity after growth slowed to
a 1.0 percent annualized rate in the fourth quarter.
Gross domestic product growth estimates for the first quarter
are currently above a 2 percent rate.
Six components of the NFIB index fell last month, while the
remaining four were unchanged.
Labor market gauges softened slightly and the NFIB said that
likely reflected the tepid economic growth in the fourth quarter
as the employment question in the survey was backward looking.
(Reporting by Lucia Mutikani; Editing by Jeffrey Benkoe)
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