FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Suzanne Budge, Idaho State Director, sbs@sbsidaho.com
or Tony Malandra, Senior Media Manager, anthony.malandra@nfib.org

BOISE, Idaho, Jan. 9, 2025—The latest monthly Jobs Report released today by the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB), the nation’s leading small business association, showed – once again – finding employees remaining a big problem for Main Street entrepreneurs.

“We fortunately live in state that has been a bulwark against many of the bad economic headwinds blowing in from across the nation,” said Suzanne Budge, state director for NFIB in Idaho. “That’s been due to superior state policies we have in place that foster small business survival, policies I’m glad to see Gov. Brad Little wants to build on with his calls for $100 million in additional tax relief to Idahoans, cutting government regulation and red tape, and improving the permitting process, which he outlined in his January 6 State-of-the-State address.”

The Jobs Report is a national snapshot of NFIB-member, small-business owners not broken down by state. The typical NFIB member employs 10 people and reports gross sales of about $500,000 a year. On Tuesday, January 14, NFIB will release its latest Small Business Optimism Index.

From NFIB Chief Economist Bill Dunkelberg on the Latest Jobs Report

“Finding qualified workers remained a major headwind for stronger job growth on Main Street in December. In the meantime, compensation increases have softened among small businesses, but remain solid as the year came to an end.”

Highlights from Latest NFIB Jobs Report

• 35% (seasonally adjusted) of small business owners reported job openings they could not fill in December, down one point from November.

• Seasonally adjusted, a net 29% of small business owners reported raising compensation in December, down three points from November and the lowest reading since March 2021.

• A seasonally adjusted net 19% of owners plan to create new jobs in the next three months, up one point from November.

• Job openings were the highest in the transportation, construction, and manufacturing sectors, and the lowest in the agriculture and finance sectors.

• Job openings in construction were down 13 points from last month and down 17 points from the prior year, with 41% reporting an open position they can’t fill.

Keep up with the latest Idaho small-business news at www.nfib.com/idaho, where this news release can also be found, or by following NFIB on Twitter @NFIB_ID.

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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 our 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 Idaho
802 W. Bannock Ste. 301
Boise, ID 83702
208-345-6632
Web page : NFIB.com/ID
Twitter: @NFIB_ID