Small business owners are growing more pessimistic.
That's according to the National Federation of Independent Business, which says the Small Business Optimism Index fell two points last month. The majority of business owners surveyed--64 percent--said supply chain disruptions were impacting their businesses. Another fourteen percent of business owners said inflation was their biggest issue.
NFIB Louisiana director Leah Long told WWL's Tommy Tucker that what business owners are closely watching what the Trump Administration is doing on both of these fronts.
"They're kind of worried about what policies might affect their business and the health of their business moving forward," Long said. "What goes on in DC--obviously, the (Trump) administration--does have an effect on all business owners."
The NFIB survey found that more than a quarter of business owners have already raised prices or plan to raise prices in the next three months.
"They're still juggling rising costs, slower sales expectations, and they're still having labor quality issues."
According to Long, the NFIB will monitor what the Louisiana Legislature will do in 2026 to help better train the state's workforce.
"As we move forward through session and different opportunities to engage the public sector and the school sector to be able to get people into different trade school programs and promote that," Long said. "Construction, transportation, and manufacturing are huge industries we need qualified workers for."