FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Ronda Wiggers, State Director, rondakwiggers@gmail.com
or Tony Malandra, Senior Media Manager, anthony.malandra@nfib.org

HELENA, Mont., June 10, 2025—The latest Small Business Optimism Index, released today by the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB), showed a small but welcomed uptick in the outlook of Main Street entrepreneurs, rising to 98.8, slightly above the 51-year average of 98.

“What I found noteworthy is that inflation and unfilled job openings took a break from their customary appearances as the most important problems, and were replaced by taxes,” said Ronda Wiggers, state director for NFIB in Montana. “You would have to go back as far as December 2020 to find the last time taxes were ranked as the most important problem. My suggestion to Congress is that it take the tax-relief baton the Montana Legislature just passed to it and do everything possible to prevent the Small Business Deduction from expiring at the end of the year.

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 Today’s 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 Montana small business news at www.nfib.com or by following us on X at @NFIB_MT.

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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 Montana
406-899-9659
rondakwiggers@gmail.com
NFIB.com
X: @NFIB_MT