October 2026
Owners Whose Sales Fell 10% or More a Year Rank Finding Qualified Staff 13th. Owners Growing 10–24% Rank It 3rd.
NFIB's 2024 survey split by sales trend: when sales fall, money problems climb the list and hiring drops ten places. About as many still call it critical.
At Firms 11 or More Years Old, Two in Three Hires Fill a Seat Someone Left. At Firms Under Two, One in Three Do.
Census hiring data by firm age: at the youngest firms most hires fill new jobs. At firms 11 years and older, about two in three refill a seat someone left.
Of Employers With 1 to 4 Employees Who Spot an Underperformer, 21.6% Leave Them in Place. At 20 to 49, 11.9% Do.
Census asked employers what happened to under-performing staff. The smallest firms left them in place almost twice as often as firms of 20 to 49.
In 2020, US Employment Fell 6.2%. The Number of Self-Employed Fell 1.2%.
BLS household survey: in the 2020 shock, wage jobs fell hard while the self-employed count barely moved. In 2008 it went the other way, and took a decade.
At Big Banks, 85% of Approved Firms With 50 to 499 Employees Were Satisfied. With 1 to 4 Employees, 56%.
Fed survey data on the lender after the yes: big banks satisfy their larger small-business borrowers far more often. Online lenders satisfy about a third.
Apparel Plants Score 0.366 on Census’s Management Scale. Primary Metal Plants Score 0.642.
Across 21 manufacturing trades, Census's structured-management score runs from 0.366 to 0.642. By state, 39 of 50 sit level with the nation.