Small-business owners are predicting positive numbers for first quarter 2014 production, according to the SurePayroll Small Business Scorecard survey. The March survey found that 87 percent of respondents said they believe they will see business growth for the first three months of 2014.
Michael Alter, SurePayroll CEO and president, said in a statement there are a few hiccups in the industry that may slow down business, but nothing major.
"The arrow is pointing up for small businesses right now. Optimism is holding strong and there's a belief in more positive things to come," Alter said. "While there are some headwinds regarding health care and hiring growth, at the end of the day more of our customers are seeing better results this year."
Hiring among small businesses – which constitutes full-time, part-time and temporary workers – was down 0.1 percent from February and 0.6 percent from March 2013.
Despite a minimal decrease in hiring over the past year, businesses are still confident the sector will show improvements. According to the survey, 69 percent of respondents are optimistic about future prospects. March 2014's optimism mark has not shown a major change from December 2013's mark of 70 percent.
