Small Businesses Added More Workers In September Than Rest Of Year
According to the latest NFIB monthly jobs report, small businesses in September added an average of 0.18 new workers, up from 0.13 new workers in August. This represented the strongest monthly growth for 2015. The survey found that 13% of small businesses increased employment by an average of 2.9 workers. Overall, most small businesses were poised for growth in September, with 53% reporting that they hired or attempted to hire new workers during the month. Another 45% reported there were few to no applicants qualified for open jobs, while 14% reported using temporary workers during the month. There were 27% of small business owners who had job openings that went unfilled, but this was down 2% from the 2015 high. Regarding compensation, “a seasonally adjusted net 23% of owners reported raising worker compensation, unchanged and just 2 points below the expansion high reading reached in January and May,” the report said.
What This Means For Small Businesses
Small businesses across the US should see mixed takeaways from the latest report. The report said that “finding qualified workers” is now the third-biggest challenge they face, behind taxation and regulation. NFIB Chief Economist William Dunkleberg said, “This suggests that employers will face continued wage pressure in order to attract and keep good employees.” On the positive side, he added that “the economy continues to grow, not strongly but solid. This will support the creation of 230,000 jobs. Not a great number compared to the 1983-90 recovery of a much smaller economy, but still positive. The unemployment rate will remain steady around 5 percent.”
Additional Reading
Reuters and MarketWatch also covered the monthly jobs report.
Note: this article is intended to keep small business owners up on the latest news. It does not necessarily represent the policy stances of NFIB.
