NOW EVEN SMALL BUSINESS AND FAMILY BUSINESSES OPTIMISTIC

There is more good news on the economy, but I wonder what the impact will be of the collapse of oil prices?  In December retail sales were down, largely because of lower gasoline revenues, but on net the consumer was not yet spending:

A CNBC article titled Small Business Optimism Hits 8-Year High  The National Federation of Independent Business said on Tuesday its Small Business Optimism Index increased 2.3 points to 100.4 last month, the highest reading since October 2006.  The index, which crossed the 100 mark for the first time in eight years, is now back at its prerecession average.*

In a separate article, Family Owned Businesses Optimistic, CNBC states Pricewaterhouse Cooper's "US Family Business" survey finds family businesses are feeling upbeat on growth projections, as 79 percent of respondents expect "steady growth" in the next five years. What's more, 70 percent reported revenue growth in the past year, according to the survey released Tuesday.**  Please note that family businesses can include some large businesses in addition to a lot of "mom and pop" businesses.

And it turns out the the WSJ agrees that small businesses are optimistic:***

(Click on figure to enlarge)

Small-business owners are also hiring more workers. The seasonally adjusted average increase in workers per firm was 0.2 workers per firm in December, a “historically large” number, said the NFIB. The report said that seasonally adjusted, 18% of firms reported increasing employment an average of 2.9 workers while 9% reduced their workforce by an average of 3.0 workers.
Small-business owners still report difficulty finding qualified workers. .... Of those looking for workers, 80% said they were seeing few or no applicants who were qualified for the open positions.***


*  http://www.cnbc.com/id/102333518
** http://www.cnbc.com/id/102329900
*** http://blogs.wsj.com/economics/2015/01/13/small-business-confidence-hits-expansion-high/?mod=djemRTE_h