U.S. NFIB Small Business confidence likely to have eased slightly in September

The U.S. NFIB Small Business Survey might get slightly more focus given the recent fall in the stock market and increased worries regarding recession. The NFIB survey is mainly large and diverse survey that captures a mix of small and middle market businesses. According to consensus expectations, the small business index is likely to have dropped a bit in September.

In the recent months, the survey has been the picture of resilience, falling back just modestly from its cycle high. Small business optimism is closely tied to consumer sentiment, which has been shaken by all the recession talk and stock market volatility.

“Hiring plans dipped three percentage points to 17% and the share of firms reporting they are having difficulty finding skilled workers also fell. There will also be quite a bit of attention focused on the capital spending components, which have been losing momentum but look more resilient than overall capex does”, said Wells Fargo in a research report.