NFIB’s March jobs report found that 40% (seasonally adjusted) of small business owners reported job openings they could not fill in March, up two points from February. A seasonally adjusted net 12% of owners plan to create new jobs in the next three months, down three points from February. The last time hiring plans were this low was in April 2024.
“With qualified workers in short supply, job openings stayed solid on Main Street in March,” said Chief Economist Bill Dunkelberg. “As spring progresses, fewer small business owners plan to create new positions, but they are looking to fill current vacancies.”
Overall, 53% of small business owners reported hiring or trying to hire in March, unchanged from February. Forty-seven percent (87% of those hiring or trying to hire) of owners reported few or no qualified applicants for the positions they were trying to fill. Twenty-six percent of owners reported few qualified applicants for their open positions and 21% reported none.
Thirty-three percent have openings for skilled workers (up two points) and 13% have openings for unskilled labor (unchanged).
Job openings were the highest in the construction, transportation, and manufacturing sectors, and the lowest in the agriculture and wholesale sectors. Job openings in construction were up ten points from last month, and up 12 points from March 2024. Openings in the transportation sector rose 23 points from February to 53%.
The percent of small business owners reporting labor quality as their top operating problem was unchanged from February at 19%. Labor costs reported as the single most important problem for business owners fell one point in March to 11%, only two points below the highest reading of 13% reached in December 2021.
Seasonally adjusted, a net 38% of small business owners reported raising compensation in March, up five points from February. A net 19% (seasonally adjusted) plan to raise compensation in the next three months, up one point from February.
Click here to view the entire NFIB Jobs Report.
