Eighty-eight percent of small business owners are optimistic about the near-term outlook on the national economy, according to the latest survey results published as part of the PNC Economic Outlook, a biannual telephone survey of small- and medium-sized business owners. That rate is up from 71 percent last fall and 56 percent last spring. Ninety-four percent of respondents are optimistic about their own company’s outlook for the next six months, compared to 85 percent last fall and spring.