by Calculated Risk on 9/08/2015 09:18:00 AM

From the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB): NFIB Small Business Optimism Index increased only 0.5 points last month

The Index of Small Business Optimism went nowhere in August, so the good news is it did not fall. Two Index components, job openings and earnings trends both posted a solid 4 point gain, but there was not much action in the remaining components ...

On balance, owners added a net 0.13 workers per firm in recent months, better than July’s 0.05 but historically a solid reading.
emphasis added

Click on graph for larger image.

This graph shows the small business optimism index since 1986.

The index increased to 95.9 in August from 95.4 in July.