During the worst of the recession, employers demanded workers with multiple skill sets because they wanted to replace two workers with one. Now they’re bitching:
In a separate report, the National Federation of Independent Business said small businesses continued to report a shortage of qualified workers to fill job openings, with some saying they had either raised or planned to increase wages to attract and retain employees.
The share of small businesses reporting job openings they could not fill jumped in April, revisiting cycle highs. There was also an increase in the proportion of small business owners saying that the quality of labor was their biggest concern.
“With labor market slack diminishing, we expect to see a marked acceleration in wage growth soon,” said Steve Murphy, a U.S. economist at Capital Economics in Toronto.
In March, the number of unemployed job seekers per open job, a measure of labor market slack, was little changed at 1.38.
Professional and business services job openings increased 124,000 in March. There were also gains in transportation, warehousing and utilities, and nondurable goods manufacturing. Job openings decreased 80,000 in retail trade. There were declines in educational services and wholesale trade.
