Main Street Monday – 65% of Small Business Owners Report Higher Prices

August 15, 2022

Delaney Sexton
Contributing Editor

Main Street Monday – 65% of Small Business Owners Report Higher Prices

“Small business owners on Main Street (accounting for about 40% of our GDP and employment) are trying to run their businesses in the face of supply chain disruptions, labor shortages, covid disruptions, and double-digit inflation on the input side (Producer Price Index, June 11.3% over 12 months), all while global risks rise. The only bright spot seems to be their enthusiasm for hiring more workers, even as expensive as they have become, sales remain supportive of hiring,” reads the July NFIB Small Business Economic Trends report.

These are the facts:

• 49% of all small business owners reported job openings that they were unable to fill in July.
• 42% of owners have openings for skilled workers while 21% have openings for unskilled labor.
• A net 20% of small business owners plan to create new jobs in the next three months.
• Over half of small business owners reported having few or no qualified candidates for the positions they were trying to fill.
• Nearly half of small business owners reported raising compensation, and a net 25% plan on raising compensation in the next three months.
• 9% of small business owners cited labor costs as their top business problem while 21% cited labor quality as their top business problem.
• The net percent of owners raising average selling prices dropped 7 points from June to a net 56%.
• 65% of small business owners reported higher average selling prices, a four-point decrease from June.
• 8% of small business owners reported lower average selling prices, a four-point increase from June.
• A net 26% of owners are reporting negative profit trends.
• Of those reporting lower profits, 40% blamed the rise in the cost of materials, 17% blamed weaker sales, 10% said labor costs, 10% said lower prices, and 2% cited higher taxes or regulatory costs.
• A net 18% reported increases in their stocks.
• 32% of small business owners reported that supply chain disruptions had a significant impact on their business.

Source:
July NFIB Report