The latest Jobs Report put out monthly by the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) regrettably finds no change in the new normal of small business owners still struggling to fill their job openings.
“Small business owners still have open positions, and they’re still having a hard time finding qualified applicants to fill those open jobs, but we’re also starting to see a decrease in their plans to create new jobs,” said Anthony Smith, state director for NFIB in Oregon. “A number of factors could be contributing to this, including frustration from few or no qualified applicants and persistent cost increases from rapid inflation over the last couple of years. This data is consistent with the overall economic picture of Oregon right now, where state economists are saying that Oregon’s inflationary boom is cooling, with a slower, but sustained expansion on the horizon.”
NFIB’s latest Jobs Report, released yesterday, is a national snapshot not broken down by state. Overriding all small business concerns, however, is whether Congress will pass the Main Street Tax Certainty Act (H.R. 4721, S. 1706), which would make the 20% Small Business Deduction permanent. Failure to do so will result in a big tax increase on 90% of the nation’s small business owners.
From NFIB Chief Economist Bill Dunkelberg on the Latest Jobs Report: “Job openings on Main Street remain historically high as small business owners continue to lament the lack of qualified applicants for their open positions. Owners have grown understandably frustrated as attempts to fill their workforce repeatedly stall and cost pressures continue to rise.”
Highlights from the Latest Jobs Report
- Overall, 62% of small business owners reported hiring or trying to hire in August, up five points from July. Fifty-six percent (90% of those hiring or trying to hire) of owners reported few or no qualified applicants for the positions they were trying to fill
- Thirty-six percent have openings for skilled workers (up four points) and 15% have openings for unskilled labor (down one point).
- Job openings in construction were up five points from July and over half of them (60%) have a job opening they can’t fill. Job openings were the highest in the transportation, construction, and manufacturing sectors, and the lowest in the agriculture and finance sectors.
- A seasonally adjusted net 13% of owners plan to create new jobs in the next three months, down two points from July.
For 80 years, NFIB has been advocating on behalf of America’s small and independent business owners, both in Washington, D.C., and in all 50 state capitals. NFIB is a nonprofit, nonpartisan, and member-driven association. Since its founding in 1943, NFIB has been exclusively dedicated to small and independent businesses and remains so today.
