Opinions

A Record Month for Raises


Contractors position a wall while building a home in Elgin, Illinois last month. The latest National Federation of Independent Business survey finds job openings most frequent in the construction industry.

Contractors position a wall while building a home in Elgin, Illinois last month. The latest National Federation of Independent Business survey finds job openings most frequent in the construction industry.


Photo:

Daniel Acker/Bloomberg News

Few Americans would say that they’re actually sick of winning, but you can add one more positive report to the recent run of upbeat readings on the nation’s economy. The latest monthly survey from the National Federation of Independent Business finds widespread raises as small firms try to attract and retain talent in a historically tight labor market.

NFIB Chief Economist William Dunkelberg says that a record 37% of small businesses in September “reported raising overall compensation in hopes of hiring and retaining needed employees. There are more job openings than job seekers, and the competition for qualified workers is pushing up compensation, especially for the better trained and educated employees.”

“Job creation picked up again in September, rising to a net addition of 0.15 workers per firm,” adds Mr. Dunkelberg, who notes that the demand for workers is intense across a range of industries:

Thirty-eight percent of all owners reported job openings they could not fill in the current period, unchanged from August’s record high. Reports of job openings were most frequent in construction (56 percent, down 6 points), manufacturing (54 percent, up 7 points), transportation (51 percent), wholesale trades (44 percent), and retail (43 percent) where customers are showing up in large numbers. The lack of qualified applicants is nearing levels attained in the late 1990s when Y2K produced a surge in demand for computer and programming specialists.

As economic problems go, too many jobs available is of course a great one for qualified workers to have. So how do we get more people into the category of qualified workers?

There’s some encouraging news there as well. Mr. Dunkelberg says that NFIB research indicates that many unqualified potential employees don’t necessarily need to embark on long and costly training programs to become eligible. He says that many employers cite “social skills, attitude and appearance as disqualifiers.”

Those currently outside the workforce will find that help is very much wanted if they choose to join the labor market. Here’s hoping they will.

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(Teresa Vozzo helps compile Best of the Web.)

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Mr. Freeman is the co-author of “Borrowed Time,” now available from HarperBusiness.





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