Small Business Confidence Steady

CNN.com reported yesterday that business owners' confidence in the economy remains in line with January, but higher gas prices are a big concern.

According to a recent Morgan Stanley survey /Discover Small Business confidence measure, small business owners' confidence in the economy stayed steady in February as optimism about their own business fortunes was offset by an increase in concern about cash flow.

The good news:
Optimism was reflected on the hiring front: 17 percent of owners plan to hire more workers in February, up from 14 percent last month; 39 percent also plan to spend more on business development, which is up from 35 percent in January.

The bad news:
However, concerns about cash flow also rose. Forty percent of business owners who sell products reported a significant jump in cash flow concerns, up from 24 percent in the previous month, the survey said.

Thirty-nine percent of respondents said that changes in gasoline prices affect profitability, while 48 percent said the effects are minor and 13 percent said they were of no consequence.

When asked to name their largest energy expense, 36 percent of small business owners cited gasoline, but an unexpected 42 percent said they have no significant energy expenses. Of the remaining respondents, 13 percent named electricity, followed by fuel oil, 6 percent, and natural gas, 3 percent.

The survey reached out to 1,000 small business owners to gauge their opinions.