Optimism among small-business owners falls as concern grows over prospects for growth
Optimism among small U.S. businesses fell to its lowest point since the weeks leading up to the 2016 presidential election, showing rising concerns over future economic growth.
The Business Optimism Index slipped 3.2 points in January to 101.2, as business owners continued hiring and investing, but expressed rising concern about future economic growth, according to a survey by the National Federation of Independent Business.
The 101.2 reading, the lowest since November, remains well above the historical average of 98 but the drop indicates uncertainty among small business owners due to the 35-day government shutdown and financial market instability, the NFIB said.
The NFIB uncertainty index rose seven points to 86, the fifth highest reading in the survey’s 45-year history.
“Business operations are still very strong, but small business owners’ expectations about the future are shaky,” said NFIB President and Chief Executive Juanita Duggan. “One thing small businesses make clear to us is their dislike for uncertainty, and while they are continuing to create jobs and increase compensation at a frenetic pace, the political climate is affecting how they view the future.”
The January index also found that hiring, hiring plans, and job openings remained strong, as were inventory spending and capital spending.
Asurion to double Houston workforce
Asurion, a company that offers tech support, smartphone insurance and extended warranties for a host of technologies, said it would double its Houston workforce to more than 800 employees.
The company, headquartered in Nashville, announced this week that it would create 430 new jobs by the end of the year. It has relocated its local office to a 130,000-square-foot space at 10720 West Sam Houston Parkway North, in the North Houston Garden neighborhood from offices in Cypress Station.
“Our move to the North Houston Garden neighborhood will help us attract additional talent as the nationwide demand for help with people’s technology continues to grow,” Todd Chretien, Asurion senior vice president of customer solutions, said in a news release. “We look forward to becoming an even bigger part of the Houston community.”
The company, which has been in Houston since 1997, is hiring customer care representatives and technical support representatives with average pay ranging from $15 to $17 an hour.
Six Flags Rebrands Wet ’n’ Wild park
Six Flags is renaming and renovating Wet ’n’ Wild Splashtown, the largest water park in the Houston area, which it acquired last year.
The Grand Prairiebased amusement park company announced Tuesday that Wet ’n’ Wild Splashtown will be rebranded as Six Flags Hurricane Harbor Splashtown. The 48-acre water park in Spring is one of three newly acquired Six Flags water parks that will be rebranded into Hurricane Harbor, the company’s line of water parks that feature large water slides and pools.
The park will open in May after a major facelift, one of several in its 35-year history. The water park will debut a new Caribbean theme as well as a new six-story water slide. Wahoo Wave will allow four riders to plunge 30 feet down a vertical water slide before sweeping across a waterfall and landing into a pool.
Six Flags, which also operated the now defunct AstroWorld and once owned Splashtown, acquired Splashtown from EPR Properties last May. The park opened in 1984 as the short-lived Hanna-Barbera Land and became Splashtown in 1986. It was renamed Wet ‘n’ Wild SplashTown after renovations in 2014.