The Need For Workers Is Growing In The United States

There is mounting evidence that U.S. businesses are continuing to struggle to find workers to fill jobs.

The National Federation of Independent Business’s monthly survey of entrepreneurs found a record-high 48 percent of small business owners reported unfilled job openings in May. May is the fourth month that reading has set a record. The reading for unfilled job opening is 26 points higher than the 48-year historical reading of 22 percent. (Read the full report here. )

Additionally, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, in April 2021 there were more than 9.3 million job openings in the country and 9.8 million unemployed Americans. That gap has narrowed over the last few months. There were a record 851,000 manufacturing job openings in April, up from 749,000 the month before. The number of workers quitting their jobs also reached an all-time high of 2.7 percent and layoffs and discharges reached an all-time low of one percent.

Meanwhile, according to a Federal Reserve Bank of New York study reported by Axios, the lowest wage that workers without a college degree are now willing to accept for a new job stands at a record $61,483 a year, an increase of $10,000 from just last year. Read the New York Fed’s report here.