Forty-seven percent (seasonally adjusted) of small business owners reported job openings they could not fill in the current period, according to NFIB’s monthly jobs report.

“The small business labor demand remained strong in February,” said NFIB Chief Economist Bill Dunkelberg. “Small business owners are working to maintain competitive compensation and are raising compensation in the hopes of filling their open critical positions.”

Although state-specific data is unavailable, NFIB State Director Jerrod Shouse said: “This report underscores the need for meaningful solutions to the workforce shortage our small business owners face. To ensure our state’s economic recovery, the Legislature must prioritize workforce development and meaningful tax relief. We’ll continue working with lawmakers to find solutions that make it easier to own and operate a small business and hire Oklahomans.”

The percent of small business owners reporting labor quality as their top small business operating problem remains elevated at 21%, down three points from January. Labor cost reported as the single most important problem to business owners increased two points to 12%, down one point below the highest reading of 13% reached in December 2021.

A seasonally adjusted net 17% of owners are planning to create new jobs in the next three months, down two points from January and 15 points below its record high reading of 32 reached in August 2021, showing that the trend in planned hiring is on the decline.

Sixty percent of owners reported hiring or trying to hire in January, up three points from January. Of those hiring or trying to hire, 90% of owners reported few or no qualified applicants for the positions they were trying to fill. Thirty percent of owners reported few qualified applicants for their open positions.

Seasonally adjusted, a net 46% of owners reported raising compensation, unchanged from last month. A net 23% plan to raise compensation in the next three months, up one point from January.

Thirty-eight percent of owners have job openings for skilled workers and 19% have openings for unskilled labor.

About NFIB: For nearly 80 years, NFIB has been the voice of small business, advocating on behalf of America’s small and independent business owners, both in Washington, D.C., and in all 50 state capitals. NFIB is nonprofit, nonpartisan, and member driven. Since our founding in 1943, NFIB has been exclusively dedicated to small and independent businesses and remains so today. For more information, please visit www.NFIB.com.