US Small Business Confidence Falls in August

U.S. small business optimism dipped in August as owners worried about the economy’s near-term outlook, but gains in sales expectations and hiring plans hinted at a pick-up in the pace of economic growth.

The National Federation of Independent Business said on Tuesday its Small Business Optimism Index slipped 0.1 point to 94 last month.

While details of the survey were fairly mixed, key indicators such as planned hiring, capital spending, inventory accumulation and sales all advanced in August, suggesting an improvement in sentiment in the months ahead.

“Capital spending and inventory investment plans increased as well, all activities that would put some energy into GDP (gross domestic product) growth,” the NFIB said in a statement.

via Reuters

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Alfonso Esparza

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.
Alfonso Esparza