Consumer confidence has regularly been reported as trending down in the face of rising prices, high borrowing costs, and policy uncertainty from the Trump administration on tariffs, U.S. Federal Reserve independence, and war in the Middle East. But small business confidence is also down.
The National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) released its February Small Business Optimism Index on Tuesday, and it’s down for a second straight month — though it has rebounded from the sharp dive it took last April, after President Donald Trump’s so-called Liberation Day tariffs were announced.