FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: John Kabateck, California State Director, john@kabstrat.com
or Tony Malandra, Senior Media Manager, anthony.malandra@nfib.org

SACRAMENTO, Calif., July 8, 2025—From NFIB California State Director John Kabateck on today’s release of the monthly Small Business Optimism Index from the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB), showing it remaining steady in June, edging down 0.2 of a point to 98.6, slightly above the 51-year average of 98.

“We probably won’t see this again until the 2061 expected return of Halley’s Comet, but California’s small business owners received a double shot of good news last week. First, on July 4 when the Small Business Tax Deduction that many Main Street entrepreneurs use to stay solvent and hire was made permanent and prevented from expiring at the end of the year. Second, when a couple of legislative measures aimed at loosening the CEQA manacles strangling home building were put into the state budget and signed into law. Both state and federal lawmakers took some heat for achieving both. I commend them for sticking to their guns. The future prosperity of California depended on it.”

NFIB’s monthly Small Business Optimism 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 enterprises that employ half of all workers, generate more net new jobs than large corporations, and gave most of us the first start in our working life. 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

“Small business optimism remained steady in June while uncertainty fell. Taxes remain the top issue on Main Street, but many others are still concerned about labor quality and high labor costs.”

Highlights from the Latest NFIB Small Business Optimism Index

• The net percent of owners expecting better business conditions fell three points from May to a net 22% (seasonally adjusted). Historically, this is still a positive reading with the 51-year average at a net 3%.
• The net percent of owners expecting higher real sales volumes fell three points from May to a net 7% (seasonally adjusted).
• The percent of small business owners reporting labor quality as the single most important problem for business remained at 16%, unchanged from May. The last time complaints about labor quality fell below 16% was in April 2020. Fewer small business owners reporting labor as their top problem aligns with other data suggesting a more tempered labor market economy-wide.
• Eleven percent of owners reported that inflation was their single most important problem in operating their business (higher input costs), down three points from May and the lowest reading since September 2021. Inflation pressures continue to ease on Main Street.

Keep up with the latest California small-business news at www.nfib.com. Follow us on X @NFIB_CA and on Facebook @NFIB.CA.

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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.

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