The overall economic outlook is unexceptional, but Main Street is more confident about the future than it has been in years.
Small-business optimism surged in July and August to some of the highest levels since the recession started, according to a handful of recent surveys.
In addition, The Wall Street Journal/Vistage Small Business CEO Survey’s “confidence index” reached a high of 104.2 in August, up from 102.2 in July and 93.7 in August of 2012. Of the 678 business owners surveyed, 73% expect revenues to increase in the next year and 54% expect profitability to improve—the highest levels since the survey began in June 2012.
A quarterly small-business optimism index from Wells Fargo and Gallup also reached its highest level since the third quarter of 2008, and a similar index from the National Federation of Independent Business released in August had its fourth-highest reading since December 2007.
