Government shutdown 'knocked the confidence' of small business owners, NFIB president says
Optimism stemming from small business owners in America has reached a two-year low, according to the National Federation of Independent Business Optimism Index (NFIB), which was down 3.2 points in January.
According to NFIB president Juanita Duggan the government shutdown “knocked the confidence” of small business owners.
"This is the first month we had captured sentiment about the government shutdown," NFIB President Juanita Duggan told FOX Business’ Stuart Varney on Tuesday. "And, yes, predictably, the small business optimism index dropped."
What’s more Duggan said the NFIB's Uncertainty Index, which surveys small business owners on certain metrics such as "are you raising prices," or "are you ready to expand your business," also went up.
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Duggan was recently appointed to the White House's American Workforce Policy Advisory Board alongside Apple CEO Tim Cook, Visa CEO Al Kelly, and Marillyn Hewson, CEO of Lockheed Martin Corporation.
The board, announced by Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross and Ivanka Trump, was put in place to create new career opportunities in the workforce.
According to Duggan, the “single most important business problem for small business owners is finding qualified applicants.”