IMGCAP(1)]
Half of small-business owners surveyed believe economic recovery is more than 12 months away, according to results of a monthly survey Discover Financial Services released this week.
Asked when they expect to see an economic recovery, 50% of small-business owners surveyed said it would take more than a year, while 28% said it would take six to 12 months, 13% said it would take less than six months, and 9% were unsure.
Some 44% of business owners believe the economy is getting worse, down from 46% who said so in September. Approximately 55% of those surveyed in October rated the economy as poor, up from 53% who did in September and from 48% who did in August.
Business owners who said they plan to decrease spending dropped to 44% in October from 50% the previous month, while those who said they plan to increase spending dropped to 23% from 25%.
"This could indicate that any significant expansion and investment in the small-business sector isn't likely to arrive for quiet a while," Ryan Scully, Discover business card director, said of the report's findings.
The Discover Small Business Watch index rose to 88.5 in October from 87.7 the previous month. The index remains below the 89.8 mark reported in August. The Watch is a monthly report measuring the 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.
