Report: Small-business optimism down

The optimism index found that a net of just 1 percent of small firms indicated they planned to hire in the coming months, Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc., an international outplacement firm based in Chicago, reported Tuesday in a release on business activity.

Small businesses represent more than 99 percent of all U.S. employers and account for about 60 percent of gross job creation, Challenger said.

A quarterly Challenger survey of jobless managers and executives indicated an average of 3.7 percent started their own business in the first half of 2010, down from 7.6 percent in the first half of 2009, the outplacement firm said.

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