Boston small businesses are getting more optimistic, BofA survey finds

In recent months, negative economic trends like tariff worries and a rocky stock market have grabbed a lot of attention. But according to a survey from Bank of America Corp., small businesses in Greater Boston are as optimistic as they’ve been in a while.Of those polled, 38 percent plan to hire additional employees, even with the state’s unemployment rate so low. That’s 11 percentage points higher than the national average this fall, and six percentage points higher than Boston business owners last year, according to Bank of America.The survey found that 58 percent believe the local economy will improve, nine percentage points higher than last year. Meanwhile, 50 percent believe the national economy will improve, 10 percentage points higher than last year.Following the passage of the federal tax overhaul last December, owners of local small businesses are less concerned about taxes than they were in the fall of 2017, according to the survey. Health care costs remain their biggest concern, in line with a survey recently conducted by Associated Industries of Massachusetts.