🚨 🇺🇸 SMALL BUSINESS CONFIDENCE FALLS AS CPI WEEK PUTS RATE CUT HOPES UNDER PRESSURE NFIB’s Small Business Optimism Index fell to 95.3 in May from 95.9, below expectations and under its 52-year average of 98. The outlook for better business conditions dropped to 3%, while inflation and hiring worries stayed heavy. This matters because small firms feel cost pressure first. When they slow hiring and spending, the economy loses its street-level engine. Stocks weaken when CPI keeps yields high. The dollar and bonds gain when weak confidence points to slower growth.