Owners have a negative outlook expecting better business conditions
SANTA FE (Feb. 14, 2023) – The NFIB Small Business Optimism Index increased 0.5 points in January to 90.3, remaining below the 49-year average of 98. Down six points from last month, 26% of owners reported inflation was their single most important problem in operating their business. Owners expecting better business conditions over the next six months improved six points from December to a net negative 45%.
“While inflation is starting to ease for small businesses, owners remain cynical about future business conditions,” said NFIB Chief Economist Bill Dunkelberg. “Owners have a negative outlook on the small business economy but continue to try to fill open positions and return to a full staff to improve productivity.”
Although state-specific data isn’t available, NFIB State Director Jason Espinoza warned how legislative proposals at the state capitol will escalate costs on small business owners:
“As job openings remain unfilled and inflation continues to skyrocket, our small business owners have little reason to believe economic conditions will improve. These challenges will only be exacerbated by burdensome mandates being proposed at the state capitol, that escalate the cost of doing business in New Mexico. We’ll continue working with lawmakers to instead focus on policies that shore up and stabilize our recovery.”
CLICK HERE to read the full survey. Key findings include:
- Forty-five percent of owners reported job openings that were hard to fill, up four points from December, remaining historically very high.
- The net percent of owners raising average selling prices decreased one point to a net 42% seasonally adjusted, too high for 2% target.
- The net percent of owners who expect real sales to be higher worsened four points from December to a net negative 14%.
As reported in NFIB’s monthly jobs report, 57% of owners reported hiring or trying to hire in January. Of those hiring or trying to hire, 91% of owners reported few or no qualified applicants for the positions they were trying to fill.
