Washington, D.C. (July 19, 2018)— President Trump signed an executive order on a new workforce initiative today that focuses on the nationwide labor shortage affecting small and independent businesses.
According to NFIB’s most recent Small Business Economic Trends report:
- 55 percent of small business owners (87 percent of those hiring or trying to hire) reported few or no qualified applicants for the positions they were trying to fill.
- 21 percent of owners cited the difficulty of finding qualified workers as their Single Most Important Business Problem.
- 36 percent of all owners reported job openings they could not fill in the current period, up three points matching the survey record high set in November 2000.
- A seasonally-adjusted net 20 percent plan to create new jobs, up two points from May and very strong.
- 31 percent have openings for skilled workers, and 13 percent have openings for unskilled labor, both ahead of the May readings.
For more information about NFIB, please visit nfib.com.
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