A new Wisconsin Small Business Economic Trends report shows Wisconsin small business owners are pessimistic about sales expectations.
Produced by the National Federation of Independent Business Research Center the Small Business Optimism Index for Wisconsin small businesses in Winter (October-March) 2025-26 was 98.8, 0.3 points above the national average. The biggest single difference is in real sales expectations, where Wisconsin businesses are substantially more pessimistic. That said, Wisconsin scored high in plans to increase employment and plans to make capital outlays.
Wisconsin small business owners reported that their top issue is labor quality, followed by taxes. The Employment Index confirms that workers are harder to find and keep in Wisconsin than in the U.S. overall.
The data for this report is sourced from NFIB’s Small Business Economic Trends (SBET) Survey. The NFIB Research Center has collected SBET data, polled from a random sample of NFIB members, with quarterly surveys since the fourth quarter of 1973 and monthly surveys since 1986.
