WASHINGTON, D.C. (May 1, 2025) – NFIB’s April jobs report found that 34% (seasonally adjusted) of small business owners reported job openings they could not fill in April, down six points from March, the lowest since January 2021.

“Small business owners remained open to hire and grow their workforce in April,” said Chief Economist Bill Dunkelberg. “While the percent of open positions decreased a bit, Main Street firms are still struggling to find qualified applicants for their plentiful open positions.”

Overall, 56% of small business owners reported hiring or trying to hire in April, up three points from March. Forty-seven percent (85% of those hiring or trying to hire) of owners reported few or no qualified applicants for the positions they were trying to fill. Twenty-eight percent of owners reported few qualified applicants for their open positions and 19% reported none.

Twenty-nine percent have openings for skilled workers (down four points) and 13% have openings for unskilled labor (unchanged for the third consecutive month).

Job openings were the highest in the construction, transportation, and manufacturing sectors. Job openings in the wholesale industry rose 16 points from the prior month to 36%.

A seasonally adjusted net 13% of owners plan to create new jobs in the next three months, up one point from March.

The percent of small business owners reporting labor quality as their top operating problem was unchanged from March at 19%. Labor costs reported as the single most important problem for business owners fell three points from March to 8%.

Seasonally adjusted, a net 33% of small business owners reported raising compensation in April, down five points from March. A net 17% (seasonally adjusted) plan to raise compensation in the next three months, down two points from March and the lowest since March 2021.

Click here to view the entire NFIB Jobs Report.