On Thursday, the National Federation of Independent Business released its monthly Jobs Report, which found that Arizona is well-positioned to beat its neighbors to full economic recovery.
“Early legislative action this year to enact COVID-19 liability protection for businesses followed by recently adopted, historic tax reforms for income and property taxpayers will feed the flames of optimism and build confidence in business owners–leading to more investment, hiring and growth of small businesses in Arizona,” said Chad Heinrich, Arizona state director for National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB). “While small-business owners remain in a struggle to fill open jobs, in Arizona our small businesses are seeing the support that comes from having a pro-small-business Legislature as our elected officials wrap up business at the State Capitol.”
According to NFIB’s report, 46% of small business owners reported job openings they could not fill in the current period, down two points from May but still above the 48-year historical average of 22%. Small business owners continue to struggle to find qualified workers for their open positions while raising compensation at a record high level.
A net 39% (seasonally adjusted) of owners reported raising compensation (up five points), a record high. A net 26% plan to raise compensation in the next three months (up four points), according to the report.
“In the busy summer season, many firms haven’t been able to hire enough workers to efficiently run their businesses, which has restricted sales and output,” said NFIB Chief Economist Bill Dunkelberg. “In June, we saw a record high percent of owners raising compensation to help attract needed employees and job creation plans also remain at record highs. Owners are doing everything they can to get back to a full, productive staff.”
According to NFIB, “the Jobs Report is a national snapshot not broken down by state. The results were based on 592 respondents to the June survey of a random sample of NFIB’s member firms, surveyed through 6/28/2021.”
