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Paul Weaver/Zuma Press
Equity traders fell into a selling mood this morning over concerns that the U.S. labor market is still too strong to persuade the Federal Reserve to stop raising interest rates. Such sellers may not be happy to hear even more good news, but here goes: The latest National Federation of Independent Business monthly employment report, due out later today, finds that small U.S. firms remain in hiring mode. While the survey finds that labor demand is no longer at record highs, open positions remain historically plentiful.
NFIB Chief Economist
William Dunkelberg
reports:
Forty-one percent (seasonally adjusted) of all owners reported job openings they could not fill in the current period, down 3 points from November. The share of owners with unfilled job openings far exceeds the 49-year historical average of 23 percent although 10 percentage points lower than the record high of 51 percent last reached in July. Thirty-five percent have openings for skilled workers (down 2 points) and 16 percent have openings for unskilled labor (unchanged)…
The percent of small business owners reporting labor quality as their top small business operating problem remains elevated at 23 percent, up 2 points from November…
Mr. Dunkelberg says that while news consumers may be reading a lot about layoffs at large technology firms, “those have little impact on labor supply for small firms.” There remains a worker shortage across the U.S. economy.
The people running small firms are getting less optimistic about the economy, but they still want to hire now and in the immediate future. According to the NFIB report:
Owners’ plans to fill open positions remain elevated, with a seasonally adjusted net 17 percent planning to create new jobs in the next three months,…
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