August 2026 Small Business Outlook: Confidence Persists Among Small Business Owners

Summary: Sales inched upward, withstanding inflation and more selective (bargain) consumer spending.

• Month-over-month sales at small businesses rose in July (+0.2%) and year-over-year sales continued upward (+1.6% compared to July 2025).
• Average checkout totals rose 3.2% compared to a year ago, solidifying a trend of higher spending per visit rather than increased customer traffic.

Learn more about this data from the Fiserv July Small Business Index, published on August 3, 2026.

Summary: Employment remains steady among firms with under 50 employees and workers boost their paychecks by logging more hours.

• Jobs index dropped 0.60% from June and remains in positive territory (+0.07%) for the Quarter.
• Manufacturing recorded the strongest job growth among sectors for one-month, one quarter, and 12-month time periods.
• Weekly earnings increased to 3.14% in July (highest level since December 2023) and hours-per-week worked is at its highest level since April 2021.
• Construction and Manufacturing led sectors for hourly earnings growth, weekly earnings growth, and weekly hours worked in July.

Learn more about this data from PayChex July Small Business Employment Watch, published on August 4, 2026.

Summary: Small Business growth remains steady, especially when compared year over year.

• 86% of U.S. small businesses describe themselves as profitable (no change from Q1 and 2 points higher than a year ago).
• 50% of U.S. small businesses cite rising costs as their top challenge (3 points lower than Q1 and 4 points higher than a year ago) and 56% believe costs will continue to increase (3 points lower than Q1 and 2 points lower than a year ago).
• 41% of U.S. small businesses use AI on a daily basis (1 point higher than Q1 and 8 points higher than a year ago).
• 48% of U.S. small businesses believe AI is boosting revenue versus 45% who believe AI does not impact revenue.
• 24% of U.S. small businesses believe AI has shortened the length of workdays versus 12% who believe AI has made the workday longer.
• 44% of U.S. small businesses plan on adding workers in the next 3-months (3 points less than Q1 and 4 points higher than a year ago).
• 34% of U.S. small businesses believe it is relatively easy to hire skilled workers (3 points higher than Q1 and 5 points higher than a year ago).
• 31% of U.S. small businesses believe it is hard to hire skilled workers (3 points better than Q1 and 5 points better than a year ago).

Learn more about this data from Intuit QuickBooks Small Business Insights: Q2 Survey, published on August 7, 2026.

Summary: Main Street employers experience uptick in optimism, resulting in more plans for capital investment.

• 27% of small business owners cite “labor quality or availability” as their single most important problem (8 points higher than June) and 14% cite inflation as their biggest problem (7 points lower than June and the first drop this year).
• 15% of small business owners expect better business conditions in the next 3-months (2 points higher than June).
• 12% of small business owners believe it is a good time to expand their business (4 points higher than June).
• -4% of small businesses reported higher sales in the past 3-months (no change from June) and 7 expect higher sales in the next 3-months (2 points lower than June).
• 31% of small businesses raised their prices in July (7 points lower than June). 28% are planning on raising prices in the next 3-months (4 points lower than June).
• 54% of small businesses reported capital outlays in the last 6 months (3 points higher than June) and 25% are planning capital purchases in the next 6-months (5 points higher than June).
• -4% of small business owners expect better credit conditions in the next 3-months (1 point better than June).
• Small businesses paid an average rate for short maturity loans of  7.9% in June (0.5 points higher than June) and 27% of small business owners report borrowing on a regular basis (5 points higher than June).  The historical average is 34%.

Learn more about this data from National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) July Optimism Index, published on August 11, 2026.