A report claiming the number of U.S. venture capital firms has contracted by more than half in the past three years is incorrect, the president of the National Venture Capital Association said.

The report, which recently ran in the San Jose Mercury News, said the number of VC firms has dwindled to roughly 400 today from about 1,000 in 2007. It cited the National Venture Capital Association as its source.

Small business owners are showing increased confidence in the economic recovery, but they’re still not willing to pull the trigger on hiring new workers, according to a new survey by Citibank.

“Optimism is definitely up,” said Raj Seshadri, who heads Citi’s small business banking division. “We’re not out of the woods. They’re worried about costs, particularly the cost of healthcare, the cost of raw materials – how they’re going to manage through the increasing cost of running their business.”