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Small-business owners in April continued to show confidence in the economy, as they perceived conditions for their businesses improving, according to a monthly survey Discover Financial Services sponsors. The findings show economic confidence among small-business owners rose to its highest level in 14 months. The monthly Discover Small Business Watch index increased to 88.5, up from 78.2, representing the third consecutive monthly increase in economic confidence. The Watch is a monthly report measuring relative economic confidence of 750 randomly selected small-business owners based on their responses to six questions. Its creators established a base index of 100 when the Watch began in August 2006. "While we saw confidence rise almost across the board, small-business owners who have been open less than two years showed the most enthusiasm for the economy that we've seen in that category since June 2007," Ryan Scully, Discover business credit card director, said of the report's findings. The percentage of small-business owners who say the economy is getting better nearly doubled, to 31% from 16 % in March. Although small-business owners believe business conditions are improving, 91% still ranked the economy as fair or poor. In this month's survey, 32% of owners saw economic conditions for their businesses improving, up from 24% that did in March. Some 21% of owners say they plan to increase spending on business development over the next six months, which is unchanged from March.
