US small business confidence plummets in June

The U.S. small business confidence plunged in June, ending a five-month positive growth and casting a shadow on the growth of U.S. economy in the second half of the year, a leading industry association said Tuesday.

The National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) said that its Small-Business Optimism Index dropped 4.2 points to 94.1 last month from May, well below the pre-recession average of 99.5.

"June terminated a promising string of improvements in owner optimism during the first months of the year," said NFIB chief economist Bill Dunkelberg in a statement. "The weakness was substantial across the board, showing no signs of a growth spurt in the near future."

Nine of the ten index components dropped and one remained unchanged from May.

Declines in spending plans, the deterioration in earnings trends and weaker expectations for real sales and business conditions were blamed for the most part of the drop.

The June Index is "a disappointing sign that economic growth on Main Street is not set for a strong second half of growth," said Dunkelberg, who nevertheless stressed "it is not a disaster or a signal of a looming recession."