After several months of increased optimism among small business owners in the United States, the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) announced today that its small business optimism index fell to 89, a loss of 3.2 points, in June.

An NFIB analyst said new economic policies and legislation going through Washington were major reasons for the decline in confidence among business owners.

“The U.S. economy faces hurricane-force headwinds, and the government is at the center of the storm, making an economic recovery very difficult,” said William Dunkelberg, chief economist at the NFIB, in a statement. “Owners do not trust the economic policies in place or proposed, and they are distressed by global and national developments that make the future more uncertain.”

According to the survey, employment at small businesses may not get better anytime soon. In June, the percentage of business owners who said they would be reducing their work force rose to 8 percent, and only 10 percent said they would be hiring.