{
  "id": 563576,
  "title": "U.S. small business sentiment surged to an 11-month high in July as hiring plans jumped",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/11/u-s-small-business-sentiment-surged-to-an-11-month-high-in-july-as",
  "topic": "finance",
  "section": "Finance & Markets",
  "published": "2026-08-11T12:30:37.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Quartz",
    "slug": "quartz",
    "url": "https://qz.com/nfib-small-business-optimism-july-2026-081126"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": null,
  "summary": "US small business sentiment rose to an 11-month high in July. The optimism index climbed 2.4 points to 99.8, surpassing its 52-year average.\n\nAccording to Quartz, planned hiring jumped to its highest level since October 2022.\n\nThere was also a report on Southeast Asia's technology funding market, which saw a significant increase in July, with startups raising US$4.779 billion across 17 rounds, according to data from Tracxn, as cited by e27. However, this surge was largely driven by a few large transactions, while the number of disclosed rounds remained modest.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 2,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "e27",
        "title": "Mega deals push SEA tech funding to 12-month high in July 2026",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/11/mega-deals-push-sea-tech-funding-to-12-month-high-in-july-2026",
        "published": "2026-08-11T06:52:18.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}