Confidence among the U.S. small businesses fell for the fourth straight month in April as firms turned more cautious in the face of significant uncertainty caused by the Trump administration's trade tariff policy, survey data from the National Federation of Independent Business showed on Tuesday.
The NFIB Small Business Optimism index shed 1.6 points to reach 95.8 in April. Morale sunk below the 51-year average of 98 for the second month in a row, the industry body said.
Among the three index components, three rose, six fell and one was unchanged. Business expectations and unfilled job opening contributed most to the decline in the headline index.
The uncertainty index fell 4 points from March to 92, which was well above the historical average of 68, the NFIB said.
Over a third of the small businesses struggled to fill job openings in April, down six points from March. Job openings were the lowest since January 2021.
The net percent of owners expecting an improvement in business conditions in the coming months fell six points from March to a net 15 percent, the lowest since last October. The NFIB survey also revealed declining sales growth expectations among small businesses.