Small business optimism increased in January, but only slightly

Small business confidence rose for the fifth consecutive month in January, according to the latest Small Business Optimism Index from the National Federation of Independent Business.

However, the change from last month's reading was negligible, and historically, optimism remains at recession levels.

"The most positive statement that can be made about January’s reading is that the index did not go down - a change of 0.1 points is essentially no change and it is hardly indicative of a surge in economic activity," said NFIB chief economist Bill Dunkelberg in a statement.

Job growth similarly improved, but only by a slight 0.15 percent, with 78 percent of company owners making no net change in employment.

Ultimately, figures from 2011 showed that last year was flat overall, and the weak start to 2012 suggests that complete economic recovery will still be a long time coming.

Reuters notes that there was some positive news last month. The country's employers added 243,000 new workers to their payrolls, and the national unemployment rate fell to 8.3 percent - the lowest it's been in three years.