This could be bad news for jobless Americans as much as for small business owners. The survey found that SMB owners are not in a hiring mood because customers are not spending. Only 7 percent of respondents characterized the current period as a good time to expand their facilities, down 1 point from the previous month.
The optimism index also revealed that many small business owners were forced to liquidate their inventories at the end of the year, and weak sales gave them little reason to order new stocks.
“Continued weak sales and threatening domestic policies from Washington have left small business owners with little to be optimistic about in the coming year,” said the federation’s chief economist, William Dunkelberg.
Still, the nation hopes SMBs will help economic recovery. Things could be looking up thanks to a recent forum at the White House where Obama encouraged banks to take another look at small businesses they rejected for loans last year.
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