Contact: Michael Iosua, Hawaii State Director, miosua@mkadvocacy.com
or Tony Malandra, Senior Media Manager, anthony.malandra@nfib.org

HONOLULU, Sept. 4, 2025—From NFIB Hawaii State Director Michael Iosua on today’s release of the monthly Jobs Report from the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB), showing that 32% (seasonally adjusted) of small business owners reported job openings they could not fill in August, down 1 point from July. The last time unfilled job openings fell below 32% was in July 2020. Twenty-eight percent have openings for skilled workers (down 1 point), and 13% have openings for unskilled labor (up 1 point).

“I think it’s important not to make too much over a one-point drop in the percentage of small business owners reporting unfilled job openings. However, if next month’s report shows the same or better, then I think we can say it’s a positive step toward seeing the small business economy finally getting some recovery traction. It will be interesting to see the survey results from this coming Tuesday’s NFIB Small Business Optimism Index, which had some improved numbers last month. Let’s see if they held.”

NFIB’s Jobs Report is a national survey of NFIB-member small-business owners, not broken down by state. The typical NFIB member employs between one and nine people and reports gross sales of about $500,000 a year.

From NFIB Chief Economist Bill Dunkelberg

“While the economy appears to be doing well, small businesses are scaling back on job openings. Small business owners with job openings are still looking for qualified applicants, many citing labor quality as their single most important problem.”

Highlights from the Latest NFIB Jobs Report

• Job openings were the highest in the construction, manufacturing, and transportation industries, and the lowest in the wholesale and finance industries.
• A seasonally adjusted net 15% of owners plan to create new jobs in the next three months, up 1 point from July and the third consecutive monthly increase.
• Seasonally adjusted, a net 29% of small business owners reported raising compensation in August, up 2 points from July. A net 20% (seasonally adjusted) plan to raise compensation in the next three months, up 3 points from July.
• Labor costs reported as the single most important problem for business owners decreased 1 point from July to 8%.

Keep up with the latest Hawaii small-business news at www.nfib.com or by following NFIB Hawaii on X @NFIB_HI.

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For more than 80 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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