WASHINGTON, Sept. 9 (Xinhua) -- Small business optimism in the United States dropped in August, according to data released Tuesday from the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB).
The small business optimism index declined by 1.1 points to 98.7 in August. The uncertainty index retreated by 2 points to 89, remaining above the historical average of 68, according to the NFIB.
"Uncertainty remains elevated among small business owners as they face a mixed set of challenges with weakened sales, supply chain disruptions, and inflation pressures," said NFIB Chief Economist Bill Dunkelberg.
Expectations for better business conditions deteriorated 5 points to a net 10 percent but remain above the average of net 4 percent.
When asked to evaluate the overall health of their business, 11 percent of owners rated it as excellent -- down 3 points -- 57 percent as good, 28 percent as fair and 3 percent as poor.
"We've seen small rises and falls for the last year and a half," Dean Baker, a macroeconomist and co-founder of the Center for Economic and Policy Research, told Xinhua. "It's a generally negative business environment."
Actual sales worsened in August, with a seasonally adjusted net negative 9 percent of owners reporting higher nominal sales in the past three months, down 5 points from July.
Reports of inflation as the single most important problem increased 2 points in August to 16 percent, now tying with taxes as the second top small business issue.
Sixty-two percent of small business owners reported that supply chain disruptions affected their business to some extent, down 1 point from July.
A seasonally adjusted 35 percent of all small business owners reported job openings they could not fill in August, down 1 point from July. Of the 56 percent of owners hiring or trying to hire in August, 82 percent reported few or no qualified applicants for the positions they were trying to fill.
The news comes in the lead-up to November's midterm elections, in which Republicans are expected to lose seats amid voter concerns over inflation.
Some experts said any drop in small business optimism could impact a large chunk of the workforce, as small businesses employ nearly 50 percent of the nation's workers.
Brookings Institution Senior Fellow Darrell West told Xinhua: "Small businesses provide many of the jobs in the United States, so any drop in optimism is problematic for the workforce."
"Declining confidence could imperil some jobs and create financial uncertainty for workers. It would increase the affordability concerns that many Americans already have," West said.
Other experts noted that the uncertainty index has been high for months and could hurt Republicans in the midterms.
Clay Ramsay, a researcher at the Center for International and Security Studies at the University of Maryland, told Xinhua: "U.S. small business owners are a resilient bunch and not given to gloom and doom. However, the 'uncertainty index' -- which measures small business owners' 'don't know' or 'not sure' responses -- is way above the average and has been high for some months."
"This chronic anxiety is a big problem for Republicans, because it comes from (U.S. President Donald) Trump's rapid reversals of policy, which Republicans can do nothing about," Ramsay said. ■