Extending incentives to stay unemployed is not helping the economy
PHOENIX, March 4, 2021—From Chad Heinrich, Arizona state director for the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB), the nation’s leading small-business association, on the release today of NFIB’s monthly Jobs Report finding that 56% of small business owners reported hiring or trying to hire in February, up 5 points from January and that a net 18% of owners reported they are planning to create new jobs in the next three months.
“Small business owners continue to try and swim upstream. They want to hire, but current government-imposed restrictions are preventing them from opening or being profitable. Further, the government is providing an incentive for many able workers to sit on the sidelines. Arizona is not an anomaly in that the COVID-19 pandemic, and government reactions to it, have severely disrupted the labor market. Now more than ever, we need elected officials to focus on what actions they can take to encourage job creation and participation in the labor market and not extend incentives that keep available workers sitting on the sidelines. Let’s get Arizona back to work.”
From NFIB’s National News Release
- “The COVID-19 pandemic continues to disrupt the labor market, especially when some parts of Main Street are still closed or restricted due to state and local mandates,” said NFIB Chief Economist Bill Dunkelberg. “It is important that elected officials keep their attention on the small business economic recovery and ensure those small businesses are getting the help they need.”
- Small businesses increased employment by 0.34 workers per firm on average over the past few months, following good readings in December and January. Forty percent of owners reported job openings they could not fill in the current period, up 7 points from last month.
- Thirty-three percent of businesses have openings for skilled workers (up 5 points) and 16% have openings for unskilled labor (up 4 points).
Contact: Chad Heinrich, Arizona State Director, [email protected]
or Tony Malandra, Senior Media Manager, [email protected]
Keep up with the latest on Arizona small business news at www.nfib.com/arizona or by following NFIB on Twitter @NFIB_AZ
Retweet this news release here
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For more than 77 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. For more information, please visit nfib.com.
NFIB Arizona
24 W. Camelback Rd. #A252
Phoenix, AZ 85013
602-263-7690
NFIB.com/AZ
Twitter: @NFIB_AZ
