SACRAMENTO, Calif., Feb. 3, 2022—Comment from John Kabateck, California state director for NFIB, on today’s release of the latest Jobs Report from the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB). The report is a national snapshot not broken down by state.

“No one was expecting much change in the percentage of small-business owners reporting job openings they could not fill, but the record high in compensation being offered does make one wonder what it will take. I think the answer to that is something that cannot be rushed: Time. While we are waiting it out, I think the most important thing state and federal governments can do is to not add a single dime to the cost of running a business. The failure of Assembly Bill 1400, the single-payer health care legislation, to pass the Assembly this week was a bit of good news, saving all of us from the largest tax increases in state history. But our Legislature is never without its needless threats to enterprises, so the passage of Assembly Bill 257, which would ruin the decades-old, job-creating fast-food franchise model, shows we can never enjoy more than one piece of good news at a time. If there is no rest for weary, there are also no employees for them either.”

From NFIB Chief Economist William Dunkelberg

“Small business owners are managing the reality that the number of job openings exceeds the number of unemployed workers, producing a tight labor market and adding pressure on wage levels. Reports of owners raising compensation continues at record-high levels to attract applicants to their open positions.”

Highlights from Today’s Jobs Report

• A net 50% (seasonally adjusted) of small business owners reported raising compensation, up two points from December and a 48-year record high reading. A net 27% plan to raise compensation in the next three months, down five points from December.
  
  
  
• Twenty-three percent of owners said that labor quality was their top business problem, down two points from December. Eleven percent of owners cited labor costs as their top business problem. Reports of labor costs as the top business problem are at 48-year record high levels, just two points below December’s record-breaking 13%.
  
  

• Forty-seven percent of owners (seasonally adjusted) reported job openings they could not fill in the current period, down two points from December. The number of unfilled job openings still far exceeds the 48-year historical average of 23%.

Contact: John Kabateck, California State Director, John.Kabateck@nfib.org
or Tony Malandra, Senior Media Manager, Anthony.Malandra@nfib.org

Keep up with the latest on California small-business news at www.nfib.com/california, where this release can also be read, or by following NFIB on Twitter @NFIB_CA or on Facebook @NFIB.CA.

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For 78 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.

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