FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Patrick Connor, Washington State Director, patrick.connor@nfib.org,
or Tony Malandra, Senior Media Manager, anthony.malandra@nfib.org

OLYMPIA, Wash., June 11, 2025—Small business owners expecting better business conditions and sales boosted NFIB’s latest Small Business Optimism Index, released yesterday, to 98.8, slightly above the 51-year average of 98.

Also noteworthy in the latest index, a new issue has reclaimed the title of top concern for small business owners. For the first time since December 2020, taxes were ranked as the most important problem, beating out more recent top challenges such as unfilled job openings and inflation.

“Washington small-business owners are desperate for congressional action to avoid a massive federal tax increase on top of the Legislature’s recent enactment of the largest tax hike in state history,” said Patrick Connor, state director for NFIB in Washington. “Without federal relief, we could very well see many more vacant store fronts up and down Main Streets all across the Evergreen state.”

NFIB’s Index is the gold standard measurement of America’s small business economy. Used by the Federal Reserve, Congressional leaders, administration officials, and state legislatures across the nation, it’s regarded as the bellwether on the health and welfare of the Main Street. The Optimism Index (aka Small Business Economic Trends report) is a national snapshot of NFIB-member, small-business owners not broken down by state. The typical NFIB member employs between one and nine people and reports gross sales of about $500,000 a year.

From NFIB Chief Economist Bill Dunkelberg

“Although optimism recovered slightly in May, uncertainty is still high among small business owners. While the economy will continue to stumble along until the major sources of uncertainty are resolved, owners reported more positive expectations on business conditions and sales growth.”

Highlights from Latest Optimism Index

• A net 1% (seasonally adjusted) of owners viewed current inventory stocks as “too low” in May, up 7 points from April and the highest reading since August 2022. This was the largest monthly increase in the survey’s history.
• The net percent of owners expecting better business conditions rose 10 points from April to a net 25% (seasonally adjusted).
• The net percent of owners expecting higher real sales volumes rose 11 points from April to a net 10% (seasonally adjusted). This component contributed the most to the Optimism Index’s improvement.
• The percent of small business owners reporting labor quality as the single most important problem for business fell three points from April to 16%.

Keep up with the latest Washington state small-business news at www.nfib.com or on X @NFIB_WA or on Facebook @NFIB.WA

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For more than 80 years, NFIB has been advocating on behalf of America’s small and independent business owners, both in Washington, D.C., and in all 50 state capitals. NFIB is a nonprofit, nonpartisan, and member-driven association. Since our founding in 1943, NFIB has been exclusively dedicated to small and independent businesses and remains so today. For more information, please visit nfib.com.

NFIB Washington
111 – 21st Avenue Southwest
Olympia, WA 98501
360-786-8675
NFIB.com
Twitter: @NFIB_WA
Facebook: @NFIB.WA