In March, small-business owners felt the most optimistic since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic more than a year ago, a new survey shows, but they are still being very cautious about future plans, MarketWatch.com reported. The closely followed optimism index compiled by the National Federation of Independent Business climbed to a pandemic high of 98.2 last month from 95.8 in February. That’s roughly in line with the survey’s historic average The index is still well below pre-pandemic levels, however. The index stood near an all-time high of 104.5 in February 2020, just a month before the pandemic erupted. mall businesses have been helped by the lifting of state restrictions this year after a sharp decline in coronavirus cases. Sales have improved and many companies are trying to hire. One of their biggest problems is finding suitable workers, a seeming oddity given a huge drop in employment during the pandemic. More than 8 million people who held jobs last year are no longer working. A record 42% of small businesses surveyed said they could not fill open jobs. Small businesses say generous government unemployment benefits are keeping some workers from applying for jobs, but labor shortages go back at least several years.
