Confidence among small U.S. business owners rose to a three-year high in January, but concerns about sales saw owners remain cautious about hiring and spending plans, a survey by the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) showed on Tuesday.

The NFIB’s optimism index rose 1.5 points to 94.1, the highest reading since December 2007 when the recession started, Reuters reported. Despite the increase, the index still remained near record-low levels. The average NFIB survey reading before the recession was 100. The downturn, which was the longest and deepest since the Great Depression of the 1930s, officially ended in June 2009.

A separate survey of small businesses conducted in January also showed increased optimism. The Wells Fargo/Gallup Small Business Index survey, conducted Jan. 13-19, rose another 16 points this quarter, lifting it out of negative territory to reach 12. The index has gained 40 points since July 2010, the largest two-quarter gain in optimism recorded since the inception of the survey in August 2003.

“Small businesses are feeling much better about this economic recovery than they did two quarters ago,” said Scott Anderson, a Wells Fargo senior economist. “These gains in optimism exceed the improvement we saw between August 2003 and March 2004, when the last economic recovery gathered some momentum and stronger job growth ensued. It appears the change is driven by healthy gains in demand from consumers and businesses, which are leading to improvements in small businesses revenues and cash flows.”

The NFIB’s survey, which was conducted through Jan. 31, showed respondents were concerned about sluggish sales, despite signs of strengthening in consumer spending, which grew at a 4.4 percent annual rate in the fourth quarter. Many businesses continued to liquidate unwanted inventory, though the pace slowed down markedly.

“Expectations improved, but not spending and hiring plans,” the NFIB said in a statement, which summarized the situation as “more hope than action.”