Small business owners in Los Angeles are less likely to hire and less confident they will grow revenue this year, according to a survey released Tuesday by Bank of America.

The bank’s survey of local small business owners found that 41 percent plan to hire more employees in the next 12 months, compared with 47 percent who planned to do so a year ago. It also found that 57 percent of small business owners expect to grow revenue this year, down from 69 percent a year ago.

Top concerns for business owners were health care costs, commodity prices, effectiveness of government leaders and the strength of the U.S. dollar.

Nevertheless, 53 percent of L.A. small business owners said they expect the local economy to improve in the next year. Nationally, 51 percent of small business owners said they expect their local economies to improve in that time.

The survey was conducted by phone between March 4 and March 31, polling 1,000 small business owners in the U.S. with annual revenue between $100,000 and $4,999,999 and employing less than 100. An additional 300 small business owners were also surveyed in each of nine markets including Los Angeles.