In World Economy News 14/12/2016
Small-business sentiment jumped by the largest monthly amount in more than seven years after Republicans swept to an election victory.
The National Federation of Independent Business on Tuesday said its small-business optimism index jumped 3.5 points to a seasonally adjusted 98.4 in November, marking the strongest monthly gain since April 2009.
That is only the third time since 2007 the optimism index has broken into what’s considered above-average territory.
The difference was stark when comparing responses before and after the election.
According to an NFIB spokesman, the optimism index was 95.4 for those who responded before the election, and 102.4 for those who responded after the election. He said there were roughly equal number of responses before and after. The NFIB received responses from 724 small businesses during the month.
After Donald Trump became president-elect and Republicans retained control of both chambers of Congress, job creation plans edged higher amid a spike in expected better business conditions and expected higher sales.
Trump has pledged to lower taxes and the regulatory burden and increase infrastructure spending. Congressional Republicans have signaled strong support for the first two parts of the Trump agenda, if not the infrastructure investment.
“If higher optimism can be sustained, I expect that in the coming months we’ll see an increase in business activity, such as hiring and expanding,” said Bill Dunkelberg, chief economist of the NFIB.
Source: MarketWatch
