America’s smallest employers eased off hiring in September, according to two private reports released last week. Fewer owners were trying to fill jobs, and the tiniest businesses shed a few thousand workers, even as their sales kept growing.
Fewer owners are looking to hire
The National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) said 32% of small business owners had job openings they couldn’t fill in September. That’s down 3 points from August, though still 8 points above the survey’s historical average.
Other findings from NFIB’s monthly jobs report:
- 51% of owners said they hired or tried to hire, down 5 points from August.
- 45% of those hiring said they found few or no qualified applicants.
- 27% had openings for skilled workers; 16% had openings for unskilled labor.
- A net 17% plan to create new jobs in the next three months.
- 26% named labor quality or availability as their single biggest problem, 14 points above the historical average.
Pay is still rising. A net 28% of owners raised compensation in September, and a net 20% plan raises in the coming months.
“Overall employment conditions are softening, though the small business labor market is still tighter than normal,” said NFIB chief economist Bill Dunkelberg.
The smallest businesses trimmed jobs
The Intuit QuickBooks Small Business Index, which tracks firms with one to nine employees, found those businesses employed about 12.93 million people in September, down 7,000 from August. That’s a tiny dip of 0.05%, but it was widespread: employment fell in 10 of 12 sectors, all eight U.S. regions and all 20 states the index tracks.
Sales told a different story. Average monthly revenue rose 1.68% to $50,560 per business, adjusted for inflation (in 2017 dollars). Revenue grew in 11 of 12 sectors, with Tennessee posting the fastest gain among states at 3.74%.
What it means
Taken together, the reports suggest small businesses are holding steady rather than expanding: customers are still spending, but owners are cautious about adding staff. For job seekers, openings remain more common than usual, especially for skilled trades. For owners, finding qualified people is still the No. 1 headache for many.
The catch
Both are private surveys, not official government statistics. NFIB polls its own members, and the QuickBooks index is built from anonymized data from about 533,000 QuickBooks customers, then calibrated against Bureau of Labor Statistics figures. One month’s change, especially one as small as 7,000 jobs, can easily be revised.
More on Contoh
- The Job Market Barely Grew in September: 29,000 Jobs and 4.2% Unemployment
- Small Business Sales Rose in September, but Customers Bought Fewer Things
- Small Business Optimism Slipped in August, NFIB Survey Finds