Economy looking healthier to small-business owners

NEW YORK — The economy is looking healthier in the eyes of small-business owners, according to a survey released Tuesday.

The Citibank Small Business Pulse shows that 48 percent of owners rate business conditions as good or excellent. That’s up from 43 percent a year ago, and twice the 24 percent of three years ago, when the bank began conducting the survey. The number of owners who see business conditions as poor fell to 14 percent, the lowest since the survey’s inception.

Small-business owners are also upbeat about their own companies. Half say they expect their revenue to rise this year, and 54 percent expect 2014 to be even better.

Twenty-six percent of the owners surveyed said they plan to hire full-time employees in the next 12 months, up from 15 percent last summer. Only 5 percent said they planned to cut their staffs.

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