By some measures, January's not a great month; it's cold and lacking in the way of fun holidays. Small business owners managed to be in a better mood this January (compared to December 2009), though, as the National Federation of Independent Business Index of Small Business Optimism rose.
The index increased by 1.3 points on a month-to-month basis, hitting 89.3. And 89.3 is an impressive 8.3 points above a recent low recorded in March of last year. So we've moved a ways in the right direction.
More specifically, between December and January, the NFIB recorded improvements in small business owners' outlook with regards to increasing employment, increasing capital outlays, increasing inventories, seeing higher retail sales, and seeing better credit conditions (among other things).
Declines were only seen in connection with the overall economy improving and now being a smart time to expand. So it seems that a lot of companies' owners think they're doing better than average, but just don't want to test their luck.
If small business owners feel still more optimistic in February, the NFIB's index could top 90.0 for the first time in about seven quarters.
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Researchers have begun to study the personality trait of Optimism-Pessimism, and, no surprise, optimism is better for you.
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