Small business employment fell 1.9 points to 101.6 in March, according to the National Federation of Independent Business’s Small Business Employment Index. The reading is still higher than the 2025 average of 101.2 and the historical average of 100.
Also in March, 32% (seasonally adjusted) of small business owners said they had job openings they could not fill, down 1 percentage point month-over-month.
Owners who plan to create new jobs in the next three months came in at 12% (seasonally adjusted), the same percentage as February and close to the 11% average.
Other findings included:
- Owners who reported to hire or try to hire in March were down 2 percentage points from February at 52%.
- 45% of owners (87% of those hiring or trying to hire) reported few or no qualified candidates, down 1 point from February.
- 15% of small business owners said labor quality was their biggest problem— unchanged from February and above the historical average of 12%.
- Labor costs were cited as the single biggest problem for 10% of owners, up 1 point from February.
- A seasonally adjusted 33% of owners said they raised compensation in March, down 1 point from February.
- In March, a seasonally adjusted 18% of owners said they plan to raise compensation in the next three months, down 4 points month-over-month and the lowest reading since July 2025.
Read the full report here.
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