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fter taking a dip in March, the Index of Small Business Optimism gained 2 points in April, settling at 94.5. The reading is the highest since December 2007. While March did not post strong job creation numbers, labor market indicators did improve, suggesting better job growth in the next few months.

Among the owners surveyed, most remain very satisfied with current inventory holdings. However, owners indicated that they do not plan on adding, consistent with a small deterioration in their expectations for real sales gains in the coming months. The percent of owners reporting positive sales trends quarter on quarter reached the highest level seen since April 2006. This was a major contributing factor to the huge improvement in reported profit trends, an 11 point gain and equal to half the improvement of the Index.

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