Each month, the National Federation of Independent Business surveys the owners of small businesses about how they are doing and where they think the economy is going. One question asks whether businesses plan to increase or decrease the number of employees in the next three months.
Stagnant wages, coupled with the recent stock market slide and further declines in housing prices, have left consumers feeling not well-off enough to significantly increase their spending, which would encourage hiring.
When asked about the “single most important problem” facing their business, about one in four cited “poor sales,” according to the federation’s survey. Uncertainty over regulations is also mentioned frequently. About a third of businesses blame either “taxes” or “government requirements” for their current troubles, leading some economists to attribute the recent slide in overall business optimism to Washington
Meanwhile, larger businesses, sitting on mountains of cash, have been weathering the weak recovery relatively well.
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