The latest monthly Jobs Report released today by the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB), the nation’s leading small business association, showed — once again — finding employees remaining a big problem for Main Street entrepreneurs.
“Hiring is still a major challenge for small business owners,” said Anthony Smith, state director for NFIB in Oregon. “As the state’s 2025 legislative session begins this month, Oregon lawmakers are going to have some tough decisions to make. They can choose to streamline workplace regulations and provide additional clarity where existing law is unclear, or they can choose to impose new employment laws that are untested and untenable, which inevitably leads to costly litigation.”
The Jobs Report is a national snapshot of NFIB-member, small-business owners not broken down by state. The typical NFIB member employs ten people and reports gross sales of about $500,000 a year. On Tuesday, January 14, NFIB will release its latest Small Business Optimism Index.
From NFIB Chief Economist Bill Dunkelberg on the Latest Jobs Report
“Finding qualified workers remained a major headwind for stronger job growth on Main Street in December. In the meantime, compensation increases have softened among small businesses, but remained solid as the year came to an end.”
Highlights from Latest NFIB Jobs Report
- 35% (seasonally adjusted) of small business owners reported job openings they could not fill in December, down one point from November.
- Seasonally adjusted, a net 29% of small business owners reported raising compensation in December, down three points from November and the lowest reading since March 2021.
- A seasonally adjusted net 19% of owners plan to create new jobs in the next three months, up one point from November.
- Job openings were the highest in the transportation, construction, and manufacturing sectors, and the lowest in the agriculture and finance sectors.
- Job openings in construction were down 13 points from last month and down 17 points from the prior year, with 41% reporting an open position they can’t fill.
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.
