Small business owners in Los Angles are expecting sunny skies, with 62 percent of them confident the local economy will improve over the next 12 months, according to the latest Small Business Owner Report, released Monday by Bank of America.

That’s up from the 46 percent of owners who were confident of improvement at this time last year. In addition, small business owners here are more optimistic than their counterparts nationwide. Locally, 73 percent of owners plan to expand their business in the next five years, compared to 67 percent nationally. Notably, 58 percent plan to hire more employees, up from just 28 percent last year.

Seventy-five percent of Los Angeles respondents rated themselves as tech savvy, which puts them on par with San Francisco and higher than the national average of 67 percent.

“Not only are Los Angeles small business owners positive about the year ahead, they are also early adopters of technology,” said Troy Bosch, Los Angeles small business banking manager at Bank of America. “Their ability to adapt to new technologies will help them continue to grow in the coming months.”