Small-Business Owners Were More Upbeat and Ready to Hire in April
Source: The Wall Street Journal.
9:00 am ET
May 12, 2015
Economy
By Kathleen Madigan
Confidence among small-business owners increased in April after a March drop, according to a report released Tuesday. Hiring activity also picked up, although many owners said they could not find qualified workers.
The National Federation of Independent Business‘s small-business optimism index increased to 96.9 in April, up from 95.2 in March but below the 98.0 posted in February. Economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal projected the index to increase but only to 96.1. Of the 10 subindexes, nine increased last month.
The most positive news came from the labor front. The NFIB said in the three months ended in April, small businesses hired, on average, 0.14 workers per firm, “continuing a string of solid readings for 2015? the trade group said. Despite the addition of so many new workers already, hiring plans remain upbeat. The subindex covering plans to create new jobs increased 1 percentage point to 11% in April.
Small firms continue to face a shortage of certain skilled workers. The subindex covering jobs that are hard to fill increased to 27% in April from 24%. So far in 2015, the rate has averaged 26.5%, above the 23.7% average of 2014. Of those looking for workers, 83% said they were seeing few or no applicants who were qualified for the open positions.
Read more: http://blogs.wsj.com/economics/2015/05/12/small-business-owners-were-more-upbeat-and-ready-to-hire-in-april/
NFIB Report: Despite Last Month’s Forecast, Hiring Activity Remained Solid
For Immediate Release
Contact: Kelly Klass 609-713-4243 or Kelly.Klass@nfib.org
Follow Kelly on Twitter @KellyAKlass
Follow NFIB on Twitter @NFIB
NFIB jobs report showed small business owners have been hiring at a decent rate during 2015
Washington, D.C., May 7, 2015 – The National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) Chief Economist William C. Dunkelberg issued the following comments regarding the April Jobs Report. The findings are based on the NFIB monthly Small Business Economic Trends survey. The survey was conducted in April and reflects the response of 1500 small businesses:
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Dunkelberg’s full statement and analysis can be found here. For an interview please contact Kelly Klass at609-713-4243 or Kelly.Klass@NFIB.org
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