Businesses are expressing more favorable opinions about the economy and their current financial situation, according to a Wells Fargo/Gallup Small Business Index conducted last month.
While optimism has improved, business owners still have an overall negative opinion about current economic conditions. The index found businesses had an optimism score of negative 11, up from negative 21 in the January survey.
A score of 0 is considered neither optimistic nor pessimistic about current economic conditions.
Consumer spending has picked up recently, but skepticism about the national recovery is still strong, according to the survey.
Other findings included 54 percent of businesses rating their company's financial situation as somewhat or very good today, up from 48 percent in January.
Also, 42 percent said cash flow is somewhat or very good in the past 12 months, up from 39 percent four months earlier.