“Small business owners are showing unprecedented confidence in the economy as the optimism index continues at record high numbers, rising to 107.6 in February, according to the NFIB Small Business Economic Trends Survey,” the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) tells the Daily Business News in a release.
As longtime manufactured home industry readers know, the NFIB has hundreds of manufactured housing connected businesses among their 325,000 members.
The historically high numbers reported by the NFIB include a jump in small business owners increasing capital outlays and raising compensation.
“When small business owners have confidence and certainty in the economy, they’re able to hire more workers and invest in their business,” said NFIB President and CEO Juanita Duggan. “The historically high readings indicate that policy changes – lower taxes and fewer regulations – are transformative for small businesses. After years of standing on the sidelines and not benefiting from the so-called recovery, Main Street is on fire again.”
For the first time since 2006, taxes received the fewest votes as the number 1 business problem for small business, stated the NFIB.
“The February report shows several components of the Index reached noteworthy highs. In a sign that small businesses are confident and expect growth, owners are spending capital with a net 22 percent planning to raise worker compensation and 66 percent reported capital outlays, up 5 points from January and the highest reading since 2004,” their release said.
Business owners are expecting higher real sales rose 3 points to a net 28 percent, one of the best readings since 2007.
Owners also reported higher nominal sales in the past three months.
“Small business owners are telling us loud and clear that they’re optimistic, ready to hire, and prepared to raise wages – it’s one of the strongest readings I’ve seen in the 45-year history of the Index,” said NFIB Chief Economist Bill Dunkelberg. “The fact that several components saw significant increases tells us that small businesses are flourishing in a way we haven’t seen in over a decade.”
Job creation remained strong in February, as reported in the NFIB February Jobs Report, released last week. That dovetails with the federal data, reported in the links above and below.
Finding qualified workers remained as the number one problem for small business owners, surpassing taxes and regulations which have held the top two spots for years. That’s a challenge widely reported by manufactured home producers, and others in the industry. ## (News, analysis and commentary.)
Sign Up Today! Click here to sign up in 5 seconds for the manufactured home industry’s leading – and still growing – emailed headline news updates. You’ll see in the first issue or two why big, medium and ‘mom-and-pop’ professionals are reading these headline news items by the thousands. These are typically delivered twice weekly to your in box.
(Third party images, and cites are provided under fair use guidelines.)
Follow us on Twitter:
ManufacturedHomes
@mhmsmcom
Soheyla is a managing member of LifeStyle Factory Homes, LLC, the parent company to MHProNews, and MHLivingNews.com.
MHProNews is the most read publication in manufactured housing.
