TOPEKA (Nov. 7, 2025) – NFIB’s October jobs report found that 32% (seasonally adjusted) of small business owners reported job openings they could not fill in October, unchanged for the second consecutive month. Before August, the last time unfilled job openings hit 32% was in December 2020. Twenty-eight percent have openings for skilled workers (unchanged from September), and 11% have openings for unskilled labor (down 2 points).

“The post-Covid labor market appears to have mostly normalized on Main Street,” said Chief Economist Bill Dunkelberg. “Jobs are plentiful albeit declining, while qualified applicants are scarce but increasing for some industries.”

“Main Street employers want to hire and expand their businesses,” NFIB State Director Dan Murray said. “But finding qualified applicants is a near impossibility for many of our members.”

A seasonally adjusted net 15% of owners plan to create new jobs in the next three months, down 1 point from September. This marks the first decline since hiring plans started to increase in May 2025.  Firms remain interested in hiring but are finding it difficult to fill openings.

Overall, 56% of small business owners reported hiring or trying to hire in October, down 2 points from September. Forty-nine percent (88% of those hiring or trying to hire) of owners reported few or no qualified applicants for the positions they were trying to fill (down 1 point). Thirty-one percent of owners reported few qualified applicants for their open positions (up 2 points) and 18% reported none (down 3 points).

In October, 27% of small business owners cited labor quality as their single most important problem, up 9 points from September and the highest level since the record high of 29% in November 2021.

Labor quality reported as the single most important problem was the highest in the construction, transportation, and professional services industries, and lowest in finance and agriculture. Nearly half (49%) of small businesses in the construction industry reported labor quality as their single most important problem, 22 points higher than for all firms. Only 13% of businesses in the finance industry reported labor quality as their single most important problem.

Labor costs reported as the single most important problem for business owners fell 3 points from September to 8%.

Seasonally adjusted, a net 26% of small business owners reported raising compensation in October, down 5 points from September. A net 19% (seasonally adjusted) plan to raise compensation in the next three months, unchanged from September.

Click here to view the entire NFIB Jobs Report.