Optimism about the economy continues to swell among small-business owners.
An optimism index kept by the National Federation of Independent Business climbed an additional 1.3 points in November, to 105.3.
Still, not all the news gleaned from a monthly survey by the group was heartening.
“Small-business owners are clearly becoming more optimistic, but spending and hiring plans remain remarkably flat,” said William Dunkelberg, the federation’s chief economist. “Capital spending plans are headed up, but not significantly, and are still at historically low levels.”
Insurance costs remained the biggest problem among small-business owners. The “cost and availability of insurance” received 28 percent of the votes, followed by taxes (18 percent) and poor sales (16 percent).
