Small Business Optimism Index

The Small Business Optimism Index is published monthly by the National Federation of Independent Business, based on its Small Business Economic Trends survey, first mailed out in October 1973 and issued monthly since January 1986. It is an equally weighted average of ten seasonally adjusted components drawn from a mail survey of a random sample of NFIB's membership database of roughly 300,000 firms, covering topics such as plans for expansion, expected sales, current earnings, hiring plans and capital spending. Because small businesses are a major source of economic growth and job creation, the index is followed as a leading indicator of small business sentiment and, by extension, broader economic conditions.