Congress needs to act fact on one big issue
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Patrick Connor, Washington State Director, [email protected]
or Tony Malandra, Senior Media Manager, [email protected]
OLYMPIA, Wash., Sept. 5, 2024—The latest Jobs Report put out monthly by the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) regrettably finds no change in the new normal of small business owners still struggling to fill their job openings.
The report is a national snapshot not broken down by state. Overriding all concerns is whether Congress will pass the Main Street Tax Certainty Act (H.R. 4721, S. 1706), which would make the 20% Small Business Deduction permanent. Failure to do so will result in a big tax increase on 90% of the nation’s small business owners.
From NFIB Chief Economist Bill Dunkelberg on the Latest Jobs Report
“Job openings on Main Street remain historically high as small business owners continue to lament the lack of qualified applicants for their open positions. Owners have grown understandably frustrated as attempts to fill their workforce repeatedly stall and cost pressures continue to rise.”
Highlights from the Latest Jobs Report
- Overall, 62% of small business owners reported hiring or trying to hire in August, up five points from July. Fifty-six percent (90% of those hiring or trying to hire) of owners reported few or no qualified applicants for the positions they were trying to fill.
- Thirty-six percent have openings for skilled workers (up four points) and 15% have openings for unskilled labor (down one point).
- Job openings in construction were up five points from July and over half of them (60%) have a job opening they can’t fill. Job openings were the highest in the transportation, construction, and manufacturing sectors, and the lowest in the agriculture and finance sectors.
- A seasonally adjusted net 13% of owners plan to create new jobs in the next three months, down two points from July.
Keep up with the latest Washington state small-business news at www.nfib.com/washington or by following NFIB on Twitter @NFIB_WA or on Facebook @NFIB.WA
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For 80 years, NFIB has been advocating on behalf of America’s small and independent business owners, both in Washington, D.C., and in all 50 state capitals. NFIB is a nonprofit, nonpartisan, and member-driven association. Since our founding in 1943, NFIB has been exclusively dedicated to small and independent businesses and remains so today. For more information, please visit nfib.com.
NFIB Washington
111 – 21st Avenue Southwest
Olympia, WA 98501
360-786-8675
NFIB.com/WA
Twitter: @NFIB_WA
