U.S. unemployment is now at its lowest level (3.9 percent) in nearly 50 years, and a big part of that is small business. While the energy sector is hiring people as fast as possible, America's small businesses are doing the same. The latest survey from the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) of some 1,700 small businesses finds that they're hiring at the highest rate since 2006. In fact, the rate of workers added per firm in July was nearly double the rate of June.
Linda McMahon, head of the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) recently told Fox Business she isn't surprised by the robust hiring numbers. "I've been now to 39 states, and I've met with over 700 business owners, held business roundtables, and that's the kind of report that I'm hearing," says McMahon. "This is the greatest level of enthusiasm and optimism for small business in decades."
That optimism seems to be translating to the future as well, as the NFIB survey found a record 23 percent of business owners saying they plan to create new jobs in the months ahead. "We have more jobs than we do people to fill those jobs, and I think that's really speaking to the jobs that are being created and the businesses that are hiring," says McMahon. "It is a very confident business economy, so I am very bullish on it."