The small business confidence in the United States has declined for the fourth consecutive month in April.

In April, small business confidence in the United States continued to decline for the fourth consecutive month, with the proportion of business owners reporting job vacancies falling to the lowest level in over four years. This could indicate a significant slowing of the job market. The National Federation of Independent Business's small business confidence index dropped 1.6 points to 95.8 in April, marking the second consecutive month below the 51-year average of 98. Last month, 34% of small business owners reported job vacancies, a decrease of 6 percentage points from March. This is the lowest proportion since January 2021. 29% of small business owners reported a shortage of skilled workers, down 4 percentage points. Vacancies in finance and agriculture were the lowest, but there continues to be a shortage of workers in the construction industry, while pre-pandemic inventory stocking may be boosting labor demand in the wholesale sector. In March, goods imports soared to a record high, but this situation is unlikely to continue, as the proportion of small business owners planning inventory investments in the coming months decreased to the lowest level in 11 months.