US DATA: NFIB statement on jobs component of their Dec survey:
“Unfortunately, December’s jobs numbers fizzled, with the net change in
employment per firm turning negative again; small businesses lost an
average .15 workers per firm. Seasonally adjusted, 13 percent of the
owners added an average of 2.6 workers per firm over the past few
months, and 12 percent reduced employment an average of 3.5 workers per
firm. However, the majority of owners (75 percent) made no net change in
employment. Forty-five percent of owners hired or tried to hire in the
past 3 months, but 34 percent of them reported few or no qualified
applicants for the position(s)… Fifteen percent of owners (seasonally
adjusted) reported hard to fill job openings. Although down 1 point from
November, this is the second highest reading in 39 months. Over the next
three months, 9 percent plan to increase employment (down 2 points), and
8 percent plan to reduce their workforce (down 3 points), yielding a
seasonally adjusted net 6 percent of owners planning to create new jobs,
a 1 point decline but still one of the strongest readings since Sep’08.”