The optimism index for small businesses in the United States has dropped to a six-month low

The small business optimism index in the United States dropped to a six-month low in October due to deteriorating profits and waning optimism about the economy.

The Small Business Optimism Index released by the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) on Tuesday (November 11) dropped 0.6 points to 98.2. Among the 10 sub-indexes that make up the indicators, five declined and four improved.

Among them, the number of enterprises whose profits have increased over the past three months decreased by nine percentage points, marking the largest decline since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. This was mainly due to weak sales and rising raw material costs.

The decline in enterprises' optimism about the economic outlook has also led to a drop in the overall index. The number of enterprises expecting an improvement in economic activity over the next six months has decreased by three percentage points to 20%, the lowest since April this year.

Although the quality of the workforce continues to be the top priority for small businesses, employers are relatively optimistic about the challenges in recruitment. Only 32% indicated that they were unable to fill job vacancies, remaining the same as the lowest level since the end of 2020.

However, employers' recruitment plans for the next three months have slightly declined, marking the first drop since May this year.