U.S. Small Business Owners Say They Are More Optimistic About The Future

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Meanwhile, here are the major economic headlines from the last week:

• The National Federation of Independent Business’s Small Business Optimism Index rose 0.5 points in August to 100.8, a level that is nearly three points above the survey 52-year average of 98. There was a notable improvement in overall business health, but the percentage of small business owners reporting labor quality as their single most important problem remained at 21 percent. Additionally, 32 percent of all business owners reported job openings they could not fill last month. Read the full report at this link.
• U.S. wholesale inventories rose 0.1 percent from June 2025 to July 2025 and 1.3 percent from July 2024 to July 2025. Wholesale sales were up 1.4 percent from June to July and 6.2 percent year-over-year. Durable good sales improved by 1.3 percent and nondurable goods sales increased 1.6 percent for the month. Read the full report at this link.
• In July, the total value of building permits issued in Canada declined $10.8 million, or -0.1 percent, to $11.9 billion. Overall, the decrease in construction permits was led by the non-residential sector, which fell $279.2 million. That decline was largely offset by a $268.3 million increase from the residential sector.
• The U.S. Department of Labor’s annual preliminary revision of the country’s employment data determined there were 911,000 fewer jobs created between March 2024 and 2025. That finding wiped out roughly half the jobs that had been reported to have been created during that period.
• The number of people who claimed U.S. unemployment benefits for the first time ever was 263,000 during the week that ended Sept. 6. That number was up by 27,000 from the previous week. Averaged over the past four weeks, the number of first-time claims was 240,500, an increase 9,750 from the week before. In all, more than 1.939 million people claimed federal unemployment benefits during the week that ended Aug. 30, a figure that was unchanged from the previous week.
• U.S. inflation readings were mixed last week. The U.S. Producer Price Index (PPI) for final demand fell 0.1 percent between July 2025 and August 2025, but was up 2.6 percent between August 2024 and August 2025. Meanwhile, the U.S. Consumer Price Index (CPI) jumped 0.4 percent from July to August and 2.9 percent year-over-year.