July 2014 Small Business Optimism Index Up Slightly, At Expections

Econintersect: The National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB)’s July 2014 monthly optimism index improved from 95.0 to 95.7. The market was expecting the index between 94.0 to 96.0 with consensus at 95.8. There was little change in the 10 Index components other than outlook for expansion and business conditions which accounted for the small gain in the Index.

NFIB reports usually contain blasts directed at Washington by NFIB chief economist Bill Dunkelberg.

On the positive side expectations for business conditions and outlook for expansion accounted for virtually all of the net gain in July’s Index. However, capital spending reports continue to remain mediocre, spending plans are weak, and inventories are too large, with more owners reporting sales trends deteriorating than improving. As long as these stats continue to hold, the small business half of the economy will continue to not be able to pull its’ weight.

Report Commentary from NFIB Chief Economist William Dunkelberg:

Job growth was anemic in July with 209,000 as a first guess by the BLS. But the media rejoiced calling it “not too hot, not too cold”, just right for the Federal Reserve and the stock market. Really? Well, financial markets don’t want a hot economy because interest rates will rise causing asset values fall. But the unemployment rate went up, not down although some excuse this as typical in a recovery when more re-enter the labor force. Total hours worked by all these workers barely increased. The Index of Total hours rose from 100.8 to 101.0, 2007=100. So, the total number of hours worked is virtually the same as in 2007, seven years later and after five years of “expansion”. Gains in part-time employment, offset by losses of full-time workers is not a good model for economic growth.

Clearly the stats are not acceptable to the Board of Governors, which recently reasserted the view that significant “accommodation” was still needed, this in spite of the volumes of empirical results that suggest that even historically low rates of interest aren’t enough to move the employment needle much if at all.

The denominator in the valuation model is as low as it can be. But it’s the numerator, expected profits and cash flow that is being crippled by current policies and high levels of uncertainty. A third of the owners who view the current period as a bad time to expand blame the political environment.

Year over year, GDP growth is running about 2.5 percent, been here, done that for too long now. Looking at the NFIB survey results for July, there is no evidence that economic activity is picking up in early Q3. Only job creation plans and job openings have reached growth levels from a historical perspective. But the actual reported job creation, though positive, is not strong. And capital spending and inventory investment both remain weak. Unfortunately, Q3 looks like more of the same.