Rep. Maria Salazar (R-FL) spoke about Vice President Kamala Harris' proposal to help small businesses and Speaker Johnson's expected move to link the SAVE Act to federal funding.
Small business trust Stocks fell in August, reversing gains from the previous month, due to growing uncertainty ahead of the Nov. 5 presidential election and expectations of weak sales.
The National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) said on Tuesday that its Small Business Optimism Index fell 2.5 points last month to 91.2. It had surged in July to its highest level since February 2022, but August's decline wiped out all of July's gains.
“Despite last month's uptick, Main Street sentiment worsened in August,” said NFIB chief economist Bill Dunkelberg. “Historically, High Inflation “The biggest issues for small business owners remain as sales forecasts plummet and cost pressures mount. Uncertainty continues to grow among small business owners as expectations for the future business environment worsen.”
“The stock market is expressing anxiety… and with the election just weeks away,” he added. “We can expect more volatility on all fronts in the coming months.”
U.S. economy adds 142,000 jobs in August, below expectations
The NFIB Small Business Confidence Survey showed a decline in August, wiping out the gains made in July. (Noam Galai/Getty Images/Getty Images)
Inflation remains the top concern for small business owners, but the share fell one percentage point to 24% in August, with fewer businesses reporting they would increase their average selling prices.
The net percentage of owners expecting real sales volume to increase fell 9 percentage points to a net minus 18 percent. Those reporting positive profit trends were a net minus 37 percent, down 7 percentage points from July and the lowest level since March 2010.
Which industries employed the most workers in August?
Small business owners point out challenges in hiring skilled workers. (George Frey/Getty Images/Getty Images)
Labor market issues Small business owners continue to feel the effects of the recession, with 40% of owners reporting they were unable to fill job openings in August, up 2 percentage points from July. The survey also found that 36% of small business owners are hiring skilled workers, up 4 percentage points, while 15% are hiring unskilled workers, down 1 percentage point.
Among small business owners surveyed, 56% reported they had few or no qualified applicants to fill their open positions, including 90% of those who are currently hiring or planning to hire — a figure that increased 7 percentage points to its highest level since September 2023.
Experts say the US is moving from a degree-based economy to a skills-based economy
Construction and manufacturing are among the sectors facing challenges in filling job vacancies. (Jordan Vonderhaar/Bloomberg via Getty Images/Getty Images)
According to the NFIB survey, the industries with the hardest jobs to fill are transportation, construction, ManufacturingIn the construction industry, the number of job vacancies increased by 5 percentage points from the previous month, with more than half of the companies (60%) having difficulty finding staff. The agriculture and finance sectors had the fewest job vacancies.
The percentage of small business owners planning to create new jobs was 13% in August, down 2 percentage points from the previous month.
The NFIB also found that the percentage of small business owners planning to Capital Investment Twenty-four percent of companies are planning capital investments in the next six months, up one percentage point from July.
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“A more positive view Future economy and economic policies “While this would help stimulate long-term investment spending, owners currently have a less than positive outlook for the future and financing costs are extremely high,” the NFIB wrote. “Investments are needed to address labor supply chain issues that remain in the current environment.”
Reuters contributed to this report.
