Last Friday’s tease for the release of the National Federation of Business Small Business Economic Trends report (due out at 7:30 Tuesday):
NFIB Jobs Statement: Jobs Picture Still Bleak for Small Business
WASHINGTON, May 7, 2010 — William C. Dunkelberg, chief economist for the National Federation of Independent Business, the nation’s leading small business organization, issued the following statement on April job numbers based on NFIB’s monthly economic survey that will be released on Tuesday, May 11. The survey was conducted through April 30 and reflects 2,197 small business owner respondents:
“The steep recession will unlikely be followed by a steep recovery, the numbers just aren’t moving in that direction. Average employment per firm first turned negative in April of 2007. It has been negative for 10 of the last 12 quarterly readings ending with a negative 0.18 in April 2010 (seasonally adjusted). Since July 2008, employment per firm fell steadily each quarter, logging the largest reductions in the survey’s 35-year history.
“Eleven percent (seasonally adjusted) of small business owners reported unfilled job openings in April, up two points but historically very weak. Over the next three months, 7 percent plan to reduce employment (unchanged), and 14 percent plan to create new jobs (down one point), yielding a seasonally adjusted net negative 1 percent of owners planning to create new jobs. The net percent of owners increasing employment in the last three months fell one point to a net negative 12 percent. April marks the 27th consecutive ‘no new jobs’ monthly reading.
“There is little enthusiasm among owners to hire more workers, primarily due to continued weak sales trends.”
As small businesses account for roughly 60 percent of our job creation, it is very hard to imagine that Friday’s NFP print will be durable or sustainable without them on board. More on this file (i.e. a look at the numbers) when the report is released.
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