Small business owners are a little more optimistic about how their companies will do after the election.

The National Federation of Independent Business says owners it surveyed last month expect their companies' sales and overall business conditions to pick up after the election and end of the year.

That brighter outlook helped lift the NFIB's small business optimism index by 1.7 point to 92.9 in August.

The NFIB, which lobbies on behalf of small business owners, compiled the index from its survey of 736 of its members.

Many business owners have refrained from hiring or expanding not only because of the economy, but also because of the uncertainty over the presidential election. The survey still shows that business owners have a generally dim view of the current economy.