NFIB Small-Business News (01/05/12)

Chief economist for the National Federation of Independent Business William Dunkelberg on Jan. 5 issued a statement on the December job numbers—based on NFIB’s monthly economic survey that will be released on Jan. 10—indicating that “December’s jobs numbers fizzled, with the net change in employment per firm turning negative again.” He noted that small businesses lost an average 0.15 workers per firm. According to Dunkelberg, “45% of owners hired or tried to hire in the past three months, but 34% of them reported few or no qualified applicants for the position(s).”

“The good news is that the number of owners cutting jobs has ‘normalized,'” added Dunkelberg. “In the past several months, reports of those cutting workers have been at the lowest levels since the recession started in December 2007. … Given this trend, reports of new job creation should see a slight uptick in the coming months.”