The June jobs report released by the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) revealed the employment hiring plans among small business owners.
About 15 percent of owners plan to create new jobs in the next three months, unchanged from May. Overall, 60 percent of owners reported hiring or trying to hire in June.
However, of those hiring or trying to hire, 85 percent reported few or no qualified applicants for the positions they were trying to fill. Further, 31 percent of owners reported few qualified applicants for their open positions while 20 percent reported none.
In addition, 37 percent of all small business owners reported job openings they could not fill in their current period, down five points from May.
The percentage of small business owners reporting labor quality as their top small business operating problem fell one point to 19 percent. Also, the percentage of owners who cited labor cost as the single most important problem rose one point to 11 percent. That is two percentage points below the highest reading of 13 percent reached in December 2021.
“This summer, small business owners continue to try to hire and find qualified employees for their open positions,” NFIB Chief Economist Bill Dunkelberg said. “The number of small businesses with one or more job openings they can’t fill remains at exceptionally high levels. However, owners are raising compensation at historically high levels to attract and retain employees.”
Among other findings, the report said that 38 percent of business owners raised compensation, which is up one point from May. That is historically very high. Also, 22 percent plan to raise compensation in the next three months, up four points from May.
Further, 31 percent have openings for skilled workers, down six points, while 16 percent have openings for unskilled labor, up two points. The construction, transportation, and retail sectors had the most job openings, while the lowest were in the agriculture and finance sectors. Job openings in construction were down three points from last month with 51 percent of the firms saying they have a job opening they cannot fill.