US Small Business Optimism Rises in February

March 10, 2015 Share Print 0

U.S. small business optimism edged up in February amid signs of tightening labor market conditions, bolstering the view that a recent slowdown in economic activity will be temporary.

The National Federation of Independent Business said on Tuesday its Small Business Optimism Index gained 0.1 point to 98 last month, the third highest reading since early 2007.

The survey of 716 small business owners found 29 percent could not fill open positions, the highest level since April, 2006. Fourteen percent of them cited the shortage of skilled labor as their top problem, the highest since September, 2007.

“There are fundamental domestic economic currents leading owners to add workers and these should bubble up in the official statistics and support stronger growth in domestic output,” said William Dunkelberg, chief economist at the NFIB.

via CNBC

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Alfonso Esparza

Senior Currency Analyst at Market Pulse

Alfonso Esparza specializes in macro forex strategies for North American and major currency pairs. Upon joining OANDA in 2007, Alfonso Esparza established the MarketPulseFX blog and he has since written extensively about central banks and global economic and political trends. Alfonso has also worked as a professional currency trader focused on North America and emerging markets. He has been published by The MarketWatch, Reuters, the Wall Street Journal and The Globe and Mail, and he also appears regularly as a guest commentator on networks including Bloomberg and BNN. He holds a finance degree from the Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education (ITESM) and an MBA with a specialization on financial engineering and marketing from the University of Toronto.