In October, 32% of small business owners reported having job openings they could not fill, according to the latest jobs report from the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB). This figure, which is seasonally adjusted, remained unchanged for the second month in a row. The last time unfilled job openings reached this level before August was in December 2020.
Of those surveyed, 28% had openings for skilled workers—unchanged from September—while 11% had openings for unskilled labor, which is a decrease of two percentage points.
“The post-Covid labor market appears to have mostly normalized on Main Street,” said Chief Economist Bill Dunkelberg. “Jobs are plentiful albeit declining, while qualified applicants are scarce but increasing for some industries.”
The report also found that a net 15% of owners plan to create new jobs in the next three months. This is down one point from September and marks the first decline since hiring plans began rising in May 2025. While firms remain interested in hiring, many continue to face challenges filling open positions.
Overall, 56% of small business owners reported hiring or trying to hire during October—a drop of two points compared to September. Of those seeking employees, 49% (which represents 88% of those hiring or trying to hire) said they received few or no qualified applicants for their open roles. Thirty-one percent reported few qualified applicants (up two points), and 18% said there were none at all (down three points).
Labor quality remains a key concern: In October, 27% cited it as their single most important problem—an increase of nine points from September and the highest since November 2021’s record high of 29%. The issue was most pronounced in construction, transportation, and professional services sectors; nearly half (49%) of construction businesses identified labor quality as their main challenge—22 points higher than all firms combined. By contrast, only 13% in finance considered it their top issue.
Meanwhile, only eight percent cited labor costs as their primary concern—a decrease of three points from September.
A net total of 26% reported raising compensation during October (seasonally adjusted), five points lower than the previous month. Looking ahead, a net total of 19%, also seasonally adjusted and unchanged from September, plan to raise compensation within three months.
The full NFIB Jobs Report can be accessed by clicking here: https://www.nfib.com/surveys/small-business-economic-trends/
