Small Businesses Added Virtually No Net New Jobs In October
According to the NFIB’s monthly Small Business Economic Trends survey, October was a rough month for small business jobs. For the October survey, 1,411 NFIB members were sampled, and the results showed that job growth was “hardly stellar” for October following “the best levels of the year in September.” NFIB Chief Economist William Dunkelberg explained the results, noting, “Reported job creation came to a halt in October, with owners adding a net 0.0 workers per firm in recent months.” The balance of firms adding workers and subtracting them was nearly even, with 12% reporting a boost in employment of an average of 3.6 workers during the month, while another 10% of small businesses reported reductions in staff of about 3.5 workers on average over the month. There were 1% fewer companies adding workers while 2% more companies reported staff cuts. Of those businesses surveyed, 14% said they used temporary workers for October, a level unchanged from September. While 55% of employers reported that they hired or tried to hire workers, 87% of that group “reported few or no qualified applicants” for open positions. Additionally, 27% of small business owners reported they had job openings that went unfilled, the same number as in September.
What This Means For Small Businesses
Small business job growth was troublingly anemic in October, which Dunkelberg suggested was in part due to Federal Reserve inaction on rates. He explained, “The Federal Reserve decided not to help the economy by surprising markets with no change in the Federal Funds rate in September, adding to the large cloud of uncertainty.” Meanwhile, he warned, “GDP growth languished in Q3, and will not impress in Q4. The industrial sector is weakening and the small business sector has not returned to its historical role in the production of GDP and jobs.” As far as the US national employment picture, Dunkelberg predicted, “The unemployment rate will likely remain unchanged and job creation will rise to the 170,000 level, hardly a stellar performance.”
Additional Reading
CFO Magazine also reported on the NFIB 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.
