Forget about a good employee. Any employee seems hard to find these days.

The just-released Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey from the Bureau of Labor Statistics showed that there were 10.9 million job openings in the United States as of the last business day of July, the most recent period for which numbers were available.

That was an issue, as there were only 8.7 million people out of work and seeking employment in July, creating a shortfall of 2.2 million between openings and available would-be workers.

The numbers highlight what many business owners have said are frustrating labor shortages that have impacted their operations. This summer, 49% of small-business owners said they had job openings they couldn’t fill –  the most on record, according to the National Federation of Independent Business.

https://www.bls.gov/charts/job-openings-and-labor-turnover/opening-hire-seps-level.htm

According to the Labor Bureau, job openings increased in several industries.  The steepest increase came in healthcare and social assistance, where openings rose by 294,000. Next came finance and insurance with an increase of 116,000 openings, while accommodation and food services saw a rise of 115,000 open positions. The number of job openings rose in the Northeast, South and West regions. Companies in the promotional products market are dealing with labor shortage issues, too. Suppliers, for instance, have said that achieving adequate staffing levels to produce orders and provide expected customer service has proven an uphill climb. 

Proactive promo firms have been recruiting aggressively and offering more competitive compensation and benefits to attract workers. Still, that hasn’t necessarily led to full staffing levels. And, it’s come with a negative knock-on effect: Rising labor costs at supplier firms can contribute to product price increases, which promo has experienced throughout the year for a variety of factors tied to supply chain disruption.  

In August, payrolls in the U.S. grew by 235,000. Total unemployment stood at 8.4 million.

Over the 12 months ending in July, hires totaled 72.6 million and job separations totaled 65.6 million, yielding a net employment gain of 7 million in the U.S. These totals include workers who may have been hired and separated more than once during the year.