Gallup: Small business optimism declines

Small business owners became less optimistic about their situation over the last three months, according to new data from Gallup.

But even with that slight decline, Gallup found that small businesses were more confident this year than at any point since January 2008 – the year the fiscal crisis hit.

{mosads}The polling company’s small business index came in at +64 in April, down seven points from what Gallup found in January. But both those scores top everything since January 2008’s reading of +83. 

Business owners are more confident about the future than current business conditions, Gallup found. The likely reasons for the slight decline since January, Gallup said, were fewer companies reporting positive news about their revenues, and more businesses saying it was difficult to get credit. 

Gallup’s findings come as the economy hit a bit of a hiccup in the first three months of the year. The economy added 223,000 jobs in April, but economists still worry about a lack of wage growth.