A newly released survey of small businesses shows that nearly half are having trouble filling job openings.
The National Federation of Independent Businesses released the survey, which found that 44% of small business owners report being unable to fill current job openings, a full 20 points higher than the average reading over the last 49 years.
“The labor force participation rate remains below pre-COVID levels, which is contributing to the shortage of workers available to fill open positions,” NFIB Chief Economist Bill Dunkelberg said.
NFIB’s data is based on 632 respondents, with 89% of small business owners trying to hire saying they found few or no qualified applicants for their job openings.
