BOCA RATON, Fla.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Office Depot (NYSE: ODP), celebrating 25 years as a leading global provider of office supplies and services, today announced the results of its latest Office Depot Small Business Index – a monthly survey commissioned to gauge the economic trends of small businesses in America.

According to the February edition of the Office Depot Small Business Index, there is a new positive outlook with more small businesses anticipating higher company sales, profits and capital spending. However, America's small business community remains concerned about their finances, believing that interest rates from banks/savings accounts, CDs, etc. will increase, and expect rates in loans to increase as well.

Small- and medium-sized businesses expressed a positive view on the economy with better than half (56 percent) expecting it to improve and most anticipating an increase in their company's sales and profits (70 and 67 percent, respectively). A majority of the respondents (80 percent) remained concerned about inflation and the difficulty in obtaining bank loans and financing (74 percent) this year. Hiring expectations continue to be weak, as eight in ten of the small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) surveyed do not anticipate adding staff in the next six months.