Report: Small businesses less confident about the economy in June

Small businesses were less optimistic in June after several months of improving sentiment that led to a six-year high.

The National Federation of Independent Business said on Tuesday that its index measuring small business sentiment fell 1.6 points to 95 last month because of concern about the economy improving for the rest of the year.

{mosads}“With election day months away and no sign of change in Washington, economic growth for the rest of the year will continue to be sub-par,” said NFIB chief economist Bill Dunkelberg.

The index had risen for three straight months through May to its highest level since September 2007.

Despite the drop, job plans continued to strengthen and rose 2 percentage points to a seasonally adjusted net 12 percent, approaching  “normal” levels for a growing economy. That is the best reading since 2007.  

Still, only two index components improved, two were unchanged and six fell.

The economy added 288,000 jobs in June, well above expectations, with economic growth showing a substantial improvement in the April-June quarter over the nearly 3 percent contraction during the first three months of the year.