08/25/97 HELP WANTED BY SMALL BUSINESS

HELP WANTED BY SMALL BUSINESS
Hiring plans surge to record levels
To July's strong employment report and other signs that the economy is reaccelerating, add the sentiments of the nation's bellwether small-business sector. According to the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB), small-business optimism in July hit its highest level since late 1994.
''The picture doesn't get much better than this,'' says NFIB economist William C. Dunkelberg. Reports of sales increases were the second-highest since 1995, profit gains rose, and 45% of companies said they saw rising sales ahead.
But the biggest news came on the job front. Not only was job creation in both June and July the strongest in years, but hiring plans were reported by 18% of respondents in July, the highest level since the NFIB survey began in 1973. And though the number reporting wage increases was high, it was down from its recent December peak, and plans to raise prices were subdued.
Expectations of future economic growth also notched up their best reading since 1995, and capital-spending plans remained robust. ''Based on small-business hiring plans,'' says Dunkelberg, ''the unemployment rate should move even lower in August.''
BY GENE KORETZ