Business

Survey: Small biz owners growing more pessimistic

Posted October 09, 2012 7:00 am

Associated Press

NEW YORK — Small business owners are growing more pessimistic.

A survey taken by the National Federation of Independent Business during September shows that owners became more pessimistic as employment and sales remained weak. The NFIB's index of owner optimism has fallen 0.1 point to 92.8.

The survey does have some bright spots. The number of owners who believe this is a good time to expand their companies rose 3 percentage points. And the number of owners who expect business conditions to improve six months from now gained 4 points.

But the number of owners who plan to create jobs fell 3 points, while the number who plan to reduce their payrolls rose 2 points. More than a fifth of the survey's participants say weak sales are their biggest business problem.

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