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., July 31, 2025—From NFIB Oregon State Director Anthony Smith on today’s release of the monthly Jobs Report from the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB), showing that 33% (seasonally adjusted) of small business owners reporting job openings they could not fill in July, down three points from June and the lowest level since December 2020, though still well above the monthly historical average of 25%.

“It’s good news that nationally, small business owners are starting to have an easier time filling their open positions, but we’ll need to keep an eye on what they’re telling us about their present and future hiring plans – which seem to be holding steady for now. If circumstances change and the reason they aren’t struggling to fill vacant positions is that those jobs don’t exist anymore, that’s going to be a problem, especially here in Oregon where significant layoffs have been in the news recently and the state’s unemployment rate has been steadily creeping up for the last several months.”

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

“The challenge of finding qualified workers is easing overall but still remained significant for many small business owners in July. The easing labor market pressures are also reflected in fewer firms raising compensation.”

Highlights from the Latest NFIB Jobs Report

• Job openings were the highest in the construction, wholesale, and transportation industries, and the lowest in the finance and agriculture industries.
• A seasonally adjusted net 14% of owners plan to create new jobs in the next three months, up one point from June. This remains above the historical average of net 11%.
• Seasonally adjusted, a net 27% of small business owners reported raising compensation in July, down six points from June. A net 17% (seasonally adjusted) plan to raise compensation in the next three months, down two points from June.
• Labor costs reported as the single most important problem for business owners decreased one point from June to 9%.

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

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For over 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
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