The latest survey of small business owners from the NFIB reveals that small business owners are still cautious about the economy. The optimism index is still below the historic average, although it did improve a bit from last month.
On the employment front, small business owners tried to fill jobs in September, but with little success. Thirteen percent of those responding to the monthly NFIB Small-Business Economic Trends survey increased employment an average of 3.7 workers per firm, but 14 percent had reductions of 3 workers. Three-fourths of the reported payroll jobs were in medical care, education and government, industries not dominated by small firms, where hiring was weak.
Many are still reporting difficulty in attracting qualified workers. A seasonally adjusted 25 percent reported unfilled job openings, unchanged from August, keeping the unemployment rate low.
Eighteen percent of firms plan to create new jobs over the next three months, up a point over August numbers, while 9 percent plan reductions, up a point. This produced a seasonally adjusted net 14 percent of owners who plan to create new jobs, down a point from August but very solid. Fifty-seven percent said they hired or tried to hire new workers, up four points from August, but 84 percent of those trying to hire reported few or no qualified applicants.
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