The new tax law and strong economy teamed up in April to deliver the best small business earnings report ever recorded in the 45-year history of the National Federation of Independent Business’s Small Business Optimism survey. Overall, the Optimism Index itself continued at historic highs, registering a level of 104.8, a 0.1-point gain over March. […]
I think Wells Fargo and Gallup could have used a Magic Eight Ball to summarize the findings of their most recent Small Business Index Scores: Outlook good. The 2018 Q1 index came in at 106, down merely one point from its decade-high level of 107 notched in the final quarter of 2017. Some highlights of […]
The growth rate for hourly wages seems to have flattened over the last two years and settled in the area between an annual rate of 2.6 and 2.9 percent. With the release of the March Paychex and IHS Markit Small Business Employment Watch, we can now look at the overall trends and see that the […]
Optimism comes in many varieties and throughout the last year, we’ve seen that small business optimism in general has been running high. In addition to this, a recent targeted survey on optimism has made me even more optimistic about the current streak of optimism running through small business owners. Let me explain my optimistic view […]
“Moderate” was the watchword in two recent business-related economic reports. Jobs, wages, and prices all increased at a moderate rate according to The Paychex-IHS Markit Small Business Employment Watch for February and the Fed’s Beige Book report. The monthly Paychex survey shows a slight deceleration in hourly earning growth. In January, it hit an annualized […]