Three of four “hard” measures of the index were lower month-over-month: the job creation index, job openings and capital spending plans. The fourth, inventory investment plans, rose one point. The job openings and capital spending measures were down a combined 10 points and accounted for all the decline in the total index score.
In September small business owners identified their most important problems as government regulations and red tape, taxes and poor sales. Only taxes scored higher in September 2014 than in 2013. The quality of labor score decreased year-over-year from 10 points to 9.
The NFIB’s chief economist said:
Small businesses just can’t seem to get out of second gear. In order for the Index to get back to the average, responses to the 10 Index component questions would have to improve 50 percentage points cumulatively. … Overall, small business owners are still stuck in a rut that has been difficult to escape.
The NFIB reports that 21% of business owners currently have positions open that they are unable to fill (down 5% compared with August) and that 42% said there were few or no qualified applicants for the open positions.
ALSO READ: Jobless Rate Still Above 10% in Several Cities
Wages and earnings slipped two points to a net negative reading of 19. The August reading of -17 was the best since 2007. Some 18% of small businesses reported that compensation costs rose while none reported a drop. A total of 15% of employers plan to raise compensation costs in the next few months, unchanged from August’s reading.
The NFIB noted, “The reported gains in compensation are still in the range typical of an economy with reasonable growth, but the reversal was disappointing (for employees) as it signals weaker labor demand and soft labor markets.”
The Average American Has No Idea How Much Money You Can Make Today (Sponsor)
The last few years made people forget how much banks and CD’s can pay. Meanwhile, interest rates have spiked and many can afford to pay you much more, but most are keeping yields low and hoping you won’t notice.
But there is good news. To win qualified customers, some accounts are paying almost 10x the national average! That’s an incredible way to keep your money safe and earn more at the same time. Our top pick for high yield savings accounts includes other benefits as well. You can earn up to 3.80% with a Checking & Savings Account today Sign up and get up to $300 with direct deposit. No account fees. FDIC Insured.
Click here to see how much more you could be earning on your savings today. It takes just a few minutes to open an account to make your money work for you.
Our top pick for high yield savings accounts includes other benefits as well. You can earn up to 4.00% with a Checking & Savings Account from Sofi. Sign up and get up to $300 with direct deposit. No account fees. FDIC Insured.
Thank you for reading! Have some feedback for us?
Contact the 24/7 Wall St. editorial team.
Latest from 24/7
Our expert who first called NVIDIA in 2009 is predicting 2025 will see a historic AI breakthrough.
You can follow him investing $500,000 of his own money on our top AI stocks for free.