FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 
Contact: Anthony Smith, NFIB Oregon State Director, anthony.smith@nfib.org 
or Tony Malandra, Senior Media Manager, anthony.malandra@nfib.org 

SALEM, Ore., May 1, 2025—Is the month-after-month problem small business owners are having in filling their open jobs the new normal? Release today of the latest Jobs Report from the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB), showing 34% (seasonally adjusted) of small business owners reporting job openings they could not fill in April, is further evidence that this difficulty, stretching back to the pandemic, seems to have no end. 

“One thing the Oregon Legislature could do to alleviate, not exacerbate, the situation would be stop entertaining the idea of tax increases and new regulations,” said Anthony Smith, state director for NFIB in Oregon. “It’s important to remember that everything is inter-related. Hiring or not hiring is first and foremost related to small business solvency, which is either helped or harmed by tax and regulatory policies.” 

NFIB’s Jobs Report is released the first Thursday of every month. It 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 

“With qualified workers in short supply, job openings stayed solid on Main Street in March. As spring progresses, fewer small business owners plan to create new positions, but they are looking to fill current vacancies.” 

Highlights from the Latest Jobs Report

• 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.
   

• 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. 

Keep up with the latest Oregon small-business news at www.nfib.com or on X at @NFIB_OR

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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.

National Federation of Independent Business Oregon
1149 Court Street NE
Salem, OR 97301
503-364-4450
NFIB.com
X: NFIB_OR