Seven out of 10 merchants responding to a recent report indicated that today's economy was the same or better than it has been over the last 12 months, according to a recent survey of nearly 12,000 local merchants by MerchantCircle, a social network of business owners.

Merchants in California and Texas were slightly more optimistic than their counterparts in other states, with 30.7 percent of California merchants and 29.3 percent of Texas merchants saying the economy is better now than it has been over the past 12 months, compared with 27.8 percent nationally.

When merchants were asked to rate today's current economy versus the past 12 months, 27.8 percent said it was “somewhat” or “significantly” improved, while 30.7 percent said it was “about the same;” 22.6 percent said the economy was “somewhat weaker” today and 18.9 percent said it was “much weaker.”