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San Francisco, California - (Cheap Web Hosting Directory) - December 2, 2005 - Research findings released today by the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) and Visa USA, provide a snapshot of the economic conditions facing business owners and a projected outlook for the coming year.

Consumer and business spending through November 2005 indicates that small business growth remains strong nationwide and in the Western region of the United States.

The findings were released at the “Small-Business Economic Insights Series” held in San Francisco that explored economic factors that impact business operations, activities, and planning for business owners in California and the United States. As part of the Small-Business Economic Insights Series, NFIB and Visa have brought together new economic data and insights, ranging from small-business forecasts to consumer spending trends. These consumer and business spending statistics are a key indicator of small-business conditions and should help business owners anticipate market trends, navigate challenges, and realize opportunities.

Small-business owners who attended the event gained valuable insights regarding the economic outlook, including broader financial conditions and spending trends. These conditions and trends are based on NFIB’s Small-Business Conditions report, the Visa Commercial Consumption Expenditure (CCE) Index - the first financial metric to standardize how business and government spending is tracked within the United States - and SpendTrak, a proprietary analysis of consumer spending patterns on Visa cards.

Findings in the 26 largest economy states surveyed by NFIB indicate:

• More than one in three small-business respondents (37 percent) stated business conditions in their market areas are “good.”
• Nearly half (42 percent) of respondents reported that sales are “good,” while 57 percent cited their sales prospects for the next three months as a reason for being optimistic when looking ahead.

According to Nigel Ives, Vice President, Western Region, NFIB, ”Small businesses are known for their resilience, as shown by our latest survey results. Despite fluctuations in energy prices and the potential effects of recent disasters on the economy, small-business owners are looking at their prospects for the future, and they like what they see.”

Visa’s CCE and consumer spending data offers a snapshot of actual purchasing behavior that reinforces the small-business owners’ optimism as presented in NFIB’s survey results.

• Strong consumer spending continues throughout the United States, with spending on Visa cards totaling $758 billion for the period from Jan. 1, 2005 to Oct. 31, 2005. This total represents a 12.7 percent increase over the same period last year.
• Discretionary spending on Visa cards, a key indicator of consumer confidence, continues to increase. For example, spending in the travel and entertainment sector rose by 14.4 percent for the period from Aug. 8, 2005 to Nov. 13, 2005, while spending in the home furnishings (12 percent) and home and garden (21.1 percent) segments also grew.
• Non-payroll spending by U.S. business and government agencies will continue a pattern of solid growth, increasing an estimated 6 percent in 2005 to $16.2 trillion and expanding further to reach $17.2 trillion by 2007, according to Visa’s CCE analysis. Small business spending continues to outpace the growth of larger companies with the retail trade, wholesale trade and manufacturing sectors reflecting the largest share of small-business spending by industry segment.

Wayne Best, Senior Vice President, Business and Economic Analysis, Visa USA commented, ”An understanding of consumer and business spending patterns can help small-business owners as they seek new ways to reach their customers. Consumers in the Western United States continue to experience strong economic growth, even stronger than the rest of the nation. Higher home values, increases in job stability, and wage growth have all provided them with more discretionary income, which they are electing to spend at department and home and garden stores, as well as on travel and entertainment.”

NFIB’s Small-Business Conditions report revealed the following findings for California:

• Nearly half (41 percent) of respondents in California stated business conditions are “good,” compared to 37 percent nationally. In addition, 10 percent see conditions improving during the next three months, compared to 8 percent nationally.
• In California, 59 percent of small businesses stated prospects for their businesses during the next three months to be “good,” similar to national expectations (57 percent).
• When asked the reason for why they are optimistic, almost half (42 percent) of small-business owners in California cited positive sales prospects, which is in line with the national average of 42 percent.

Visa’s SpendTrak findings indicate that consumer spending in the Western region outpaces spending nationwide:

• Consumers enjoy access to more discretionary income. The increase in home valuations is a key contributing factor to this rise in discretionary income.
• Discretionary spending for the period from Aug. 8, 2005 to Nov. 13, 2005 grew in several sectors, including: home and garden (24.5 percent), travel and entertainment (15.9 percent), home furnishings (14.2 percent), and department stores (8 percent).
• Consumer spending in the Western region (Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming) outpaced the nation at 13.1 percent growth over the same period.

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