03:17 PM EDT, 04/08/2025 (MT Newswires) -- The National Federation of Independent Business' monthly sentiment index fell to 97.4 in March from 100.7 in February with declines in seven of the 10 components, particularly the economic outlook.

"The implementation of new policy priorities has heightened the level of uncertainty among small business owners over the past few months," said Bill Dunkelberg, the federation's chief economist. "Small business owners have scaled back expectations on sales growth as they better understand how these rearrangements might impact them."

Redbook reported that US same-store retail sales rose 7.2% last week from a year earlier, up from the 4.8% gain in the prior week due to the timing of Easter and consumer demand before the Trump administration's tariffs took effect.