U.S. small businesses cut staff in December although firms adding jobs have outnumbered those cutting them in recent months, a survey showed on Thursday.

The National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) said the number of workers fell by an average of 0.15 per firm last month, according to its survey of 735 small businesses.

The NFIB reported a 0.12 average increase during November.

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Perhaps Wall Street is listening to Main Street after all.

Daily deals site Groupon,

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[GRPN  Loading...      ()   ] which went public in early November, is seeing its stock price tumble after a recent report found that most business owners who previously offered a daily deal have no plans to do so again in the next six months.

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So many U.S. manufacturing jobs have been outsourced. It’s easy to forget that some things are still made in America, though making it in America involves commitment and ingenuity.

Just ask Kevin Sauder, who runs Sauder Woodworking in Archbold, Ohio. "We're a third-generation family business," he says, "and I want this business to be around for four and five generations."

Sauder, with 2,100 employees, is the largest manufacturer of ready-to-assemble furniture in the country, providing private label products for companies Ikea, Target,

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[TGT  Loading...      ()   ] and Wal-mart.

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[WMT  Loading...      ()   ] Much of the furniture is made in Ohio, even in the face of cheaper competition overseas. Perhaps more surprising, the company has been pioneering sustainable business practices from the start.

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No. 9 Park | Facebook No. 9 is just one of six popular Boston restaurants Barbara Lynch owns.

Emerging from the housing projects of South Boston where James Bulger, known as Whitey, once ruled, Barbara Lynch has become one of Boston’s most successful and celebrated restaurateurs.

Without so much as a high school diploma, the 47-year-old Ms. Lynch has built a company, Barbara Lynch Gruppo, of nine culinary businesses that have 250 employees and produce $19 million in annual revenue. Along with six popular and award-winning restaurants, like No. 9 Park, Menton, Sportello, B&G Oysters and The Butcher Shop, Ms. Lynch runs Drink, an upscale watering hole; Stir, a demonstration kitchen and cookbook store; and 9 at Home, a catering business. On the drawing board are a small food lab and a food-manufacturing business.

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Smaller companies were feeling more confident about the prospects for the U.S. economy in the fourth quarter, a survey of chief executive officers showed, sentiment that could bode well in 2012 for reducing America's still high unemployment rate.

Some 41 percent of CEOs surveyed said the economy had improved over the last 12 months, more than double the response in the third quarter, Vistage International said on Wednesday. Twelve percent said the economy had worsened.

The survey of 1,641 CEOs marked more optimism in the economy in every component of Vistage's "confidence index," which was 98.8 in the fourth quarter, up from readings of 83.5 and 92.9 in the previous two quarters respectively.

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In an economy where every bit of capital can help or hurt a small business, is Bank of America cutting credit lines to some small businesses?

That question emerged on Tuesday after a Los Angeles Times report cited at least two small-business owners who claim that Bank of America

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[BAC  Loading...      ()   ] is now forcing them to pay their balances in full versus on a monthly basis — a move that could wipe them out.

"I was like, 'Dude, you're calling a guy who's barely surviving!'" Babak Zahabizadeh of Burbank, Calif.-based Messengers & Distribution told the Times, claiming he received a letter from Bank of America that stated his $96,000 debt must be repaid later this month. "My final word was that I can double my payment — but not triple or quadruple it. I told them if they apply too much pressure they're going to push me into bankruptcy."

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Here's good news for workers at smaller companies: More bosses are thinking about buying employees a new iPad just as Apple is rumored to be unveiling a new, higher-resolution version of the popular tablet.

That is according to a new survey of small businesses — those with fewer than 1,000 employees – by NPD Group, a business research firm. Some 73 percent of the small firms surveyed say they plan to purchase tablets over the next 12 months — up 5 percentage points from NPD’s previous quarterly survey. Nine in 10 firms surveyed say they will maintain or increase their previous spending on tablets.

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Guest columnnist Jeffrey Hayzlett writes about how companies need to change in order to grow, and thrive, in 2012.

Fuse | Getty Images Toss out old ideas; change is what will drive growth in 2012.

Change is constant, and it is what is going to save your business in 2012 and beyond. Driving change is about driving success. You cannot build a successful business without pushing every element of your business to be more competitive.

The old saying, “well that’s the way we have always done it” does not make a change agent. Get over doing it the way you always have, there are always better ways of doing things.

Hone the mental, emotional, and (yes) physical toughness you must have if you are to create smart, strategic, and lasting change.

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