Small-Business Optimism Index Falls

        Small business owners scaled back their enthusiasm in March, according to a report released Tuesday. In turn, they plan on less hiring and capital spending in the near term.
        The National Federation of Independent Business's small-business optimism index fell to 95.2 in March, from 98 in February. Economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal projected the index to hold at 98.0. The NFIB said the index is the lowest since June 2014 and is back below its long-term average. All 10 subindexes declined last month.
        Readings on plans to add jobs and raise capital spending took hits. The subindex covering plans to create new jobs fell two percentage points to 10%. The capital outlays subindex dropped two points to 24%. Overall, only 10% of respondents thought now is a good time to expand, a drop of three points from February.
        Part of the weaker hiring number reflects a rise in recent hires. The average increase in workers added per firm was 0.18 worker in March, which the NFIB said bested the "excellent" readings of 0.16 in January and February. Also, the mismatch of labor eased somewhat. The subindex covering jobs that are hard to fill fell five points to 24%. But of those looking for workers, 84% said they were seeing few or no applicants who were qualified for the open positions.
        In addition to cuts in hiring, small businesses are also trimming their physical expansion plans. Only 24% of owners plan to make capital outlays in the near term. That's down from 26% in February and "not a strong reading historically," the report said. Unlike hiring, the drop in spending plans does not follow a speed-up in past spending. In March, 58% of small business owners reported making capital outlays, down 2 points from February.
        "Spending has not caught fire in spite of historically low interest rates," the report said. "There is too much uncertainty and expected growth is too soft."
        The March survey found a drop in expectations among small business owners. Business-conditions expectations dropped a large six points to -7%, and real sales expectations slipped two points to 13%.
        Subscribe to WSJ: http://online.wsj.com?mod=djnwires
        (END) Dow Jones Newswires

        April 14, 2015 09:30 ET (13:30 GMT)

#FX
#Forex
#SmallBusiness
#IndexFalls