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., April 3, 2025—Job openings that can’t be filled is still a big problem for small businesses, according to the latest Job Report released today by the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB), which showed 40% of small business owners reporting in March they’re struggling to find help, up two points from February.

“We’re certainly doing ourselves no favors here in Oregon on the jobs front,” said Anthony Smith, state director for NFIB in Oregon. “First was Gov. Tina Kotek’s executive order mandating project labor agreements on all state construction projects, which has since been put on hold by a recent court decision. That ruling was welcome news. But then there’s the Oregon Legislature’s latest attempts to make doing business in Oregon more expensive and riskier. From extending unemployment benefits to striking workers (SB 916) to making property owners and contractors liable for the illegal actions of bad actors (SB 426), we really need send better messages than these if we want to stabilize the hiring picture.”

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, and the lowest in the agriculture and wholesale sectors. Job openings in construction were up ten points from last month, and up 12 points from March 2024. Openings in the transportation sector rose 23 points from February to 53%.
• The percent of small business owners reporting labor quality as their top operating problem was unchanged from February at 19%.
• Labor costs reported as the single most important problem for business owners fell one point in March to 11%, only two points below the highest reading of 13% reached in December 2021.
• Seasonally adjusted, a net 38% of small business owners reported raising compensation in March, up five points from February. A net 19% (seasonally adjusted) plan to raise compensation in the next three months, up one point from February.

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

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For 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