Econintersect: The National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB)’s March 2014 monthly optimism index improved from 91.4 to 93.4. The market was expecting the index between 90.5 to 93.2 with consensus at 92.4.
NFIB reports usually contain blasts directed at Washington by NFIB chief economist Bill Dunkelberg.
Overall, the March gain more or less reversed the February decline. While the Index still can’t seem to get above 95, we can be encouraged that the economy is at least crawling forward and not heading in reverse. The outlook for real sales gains accounted for about half of the improvement with inventory satisfaction and inventory investment plans accounting for most of the rest. However, throughout this recovery we’ve seen these types of increases only to have them go nowhere. As long as Washington continues to ignore policies that could restore the middle class, job creation will continue to be sub-par.
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