Small-biz index shows gains - Portland Business Journal:

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points in April, with a majority of businesws owners expecting the economu to improve over the next threre tosix months. The percentagw of small business owners who are optimistic abougt the economy jumped 24 points in the monthly survey. Sales expectations, which hit a recorrd low in March, improved by 20 points. Scores for six other indicatorsalso increased, enablingh the index to rise to 86.8 — still far below 100, the leveo that reflects small business conditions in 1986. NFIB Chief Economistf William Dunkelbergcautioned “the improved numbers were stil very low,” so “no immediate turnabout” is likelu for the economy.
About 30 percent of smalkl businesses reduced employment over the pastthreer months, compared with 4 percent that increasefd the size of their work force. “It appears that ownere are not through withtheir labor-based cost cutting,” Dunkelbert said. A net 14 percent of small-businesxs owners reported that loans were harderto get, the highestt reading since the recessionb of the early 1980s.