by Calculated Risk on 7/11/2017 01:14:00 PM

Earlier from the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB): June 2017 Report: Small Business Optimism Index

The Index of Small Business Optimism fell 0.9 points to 103.6, but sustained the surge in optimism that started the day after the election. The Index peaked at 105.9 in January and has dropped 2.3 points to date, no doubt in part due to the mess in Washington, D.C. ... There isn’t much euphoria in the outlook for the second half of the year.
...
Small business owners reported an adjusted average employment change per firm of negative 0.04 workers per firm over the past few months, basically zero. This followed one of the best readings since 2008 posted in May. Ten percent (down 5 points) reported increasing employment an average of 3.4 workers per firm and 11 percent (up 2 points) reported reducing employment an average of 2.1 workers per firm (seasonally adjusted). Fifty-four percent reported hiring or trying to hire (down 5 points), but 46 percent reported few or no qualified applicants for the positions they were trying to fill. ...
emphasis added

Click on graph for larger image.

This graph shows the small business optimism index since 1986.

The index declined to 103.6 in June.