By Bernie Becker, The Hill, August 12, 2011

Small-business owners are not exactly bullish on the state of the economy, Gallup has found. (Link to poll- http://bit.ly/plpqQz)  

The polling company reports, in a Friday release, that small companies now have less confidence that they will add jobs or that revenues will increase over the next year.   

All that said, the Wells Fargo-Gallup Small Business Index stayed at zero in July, meaning owners were basically neutral on the state of the economy.  

The findings come amid a string of reports that economic growth has slowed and that Americans are pessimistic it will bounce back soon.  

In all, 42 percent of owners said they expected revenues to increase over the next year, down 12 percentage points from January.  

And 16 percent said they believed they would add staff in that time frame, a drop from 23 percent six months ago.  

Eighteen percent of owners believe their revenue will decrease, and 12 percent think they will have to shed employees.  

According to Gallup, small-business owners and consumers have had essentially the same thought process in recent months — an uptick of confidence in May that was rolled back in June and July.  

The polling company was also skeptical that the Federal Open Market Committee’s recent decision to keep interest rates low for the next two years would substantially spur consumer demand or business hiring.