Job Openings at Small Businesses in U.S. Climb to a Fresh Record

(Bloomberg) -- Sign up for the New Economy Daily newsletter, follow us @economics and subscribe to our podcast.

A record share of U.S. small-business owners said they had unfilled positions in July, and more firms plan to boost wages to attract much-needed help, the National Federation of Independent Business said Thursday.

Some 49% of firms had job openings last month, up 3 percentage points from June and the most in monthly data back to 1986, according to the NFIB data. A record 27% of small-business owners said they plan to raise compensation in the next three months.

“Small-business owners struggled to find qualified workers for their open positions, which has impaired business activity in the busy summer months,” Bill Dunkelberg, the NFIB’s chief economist, said in a statement. “Owners are raising compensation” to lure workers, he said.

Job skills remain a problem for companies, with 93% indicating there were few or no qualified applicants for open positions, the report showed.

The share of small business intending to hire in the next three months held close to a record, while the number reporting they had raised worker pay also remained near a series high.

©2021 Bloomberg L.P.