Remember back at the turn of the year when NFIB Small Business Optimism was surging and the mainstream media proclaimed that jobs were coming back thanks to small business, and Obama stated “the shadow of crisis is behind us.” Well, if March’s Small Business Optimism index is to be believed… it’s not. At 95.2 (missing expectations for the 3rd month in a row), this is the least optimistic small businesses have been in 9 months. Worse still, all those jobs that were going to be created by this optimism.. Hiring Plans dropped to 6-month lows.