Nik Rajkovic / news@whmi.com

Not much optimism from small business owners these days -- especially in Michigan. The latest Optimism Index from the National Federation of Independent Business was five points worse than December, marking 25 straight months below its 50-year average.

NFIB State Director Amanda Fisher says policies coming out of Lansing and crushing mom-and-pop shops.

"Prevailing wage was reinstated. Right-to-work was eliminated in Michigan. You have the energy policies that were passed last November, which are going to increase costs astonomically."

One-in-five small business owners reporting inflation as their single most important problem last month. Just 14 percent plan to create jobs in the next three months, the lowest level since May 2020.

"The fact that young people can stay on their parents' insurance until they're 26, it's taking longer for people to enter the workforce," says Fisher. "It's easier not to do work. These gig jobs, I can go do deliveries on my schedule."

"My member, small business owners, say we don't government training programs. We don't need all these things the government is trying to do. We just need people who are going to show up every day and work when they say they're going to."