New surveys also show health-care costs still the No. 1 worry of Main Street entrepreneurs 

Two reports issued this week by the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB), the nation’s leading small business advocacy association, show inflation, lack of qualified employees, and the cost of health insurance continuing to punish Main Street.    

“Economies are their own beasts, but much of the negative elements roiling them are policies created by local, state, and national governments,” said John Kabateck, California state director for the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB), which released its quadrennial Small Business Problems & Priorities report today and its monthly Small Business Economic Trends (SBET) report yesterday (August 13). “Helping calm matters a bit in California was the demise of a bill hitting small business owners with higher unemployment insurance premiums to pay for striking workers. Higher minimum wage rates, additional paid-leave mandates, and the uncertainty that anything substantively will be done to curb retail theft still loom large.” 

Highlights from NFIB’s latest Small Business Problems & Priorities report, published every four years since 1982 include: 

• Unchanged since 1986, the “Cost of Health Insurance” remains the number one chronic issue for small business owners.  
• The “Cost of Supplies/Inventories” moved up in importance from ranking 12th in 2020 to its current second place ranking – a direct result of historic inflation over the last two years. 
• “Interest Rates,” topped the list by rising 43 positions from a rank of 56th in 2020 to 13th in 2024. 

“For the last four years, small business owners have struggled with historic inflation, tax pressures at all levels of government, and uncertainty of what’s going to happen next,” says Holly Wade, executive director of the NFIB Research Center. “This survey helps the public understand the issues affecting the small business sector. Small businesses employ more than half of the private sector workforce, and this publication makes clear where lawmakers should focus their attention to strengthen Main Street and every community in which they operate.” 

Highlights from NFIB’s latest Small Business Economic Trends report, released the second Tuesday of every month, include: 

• Inflation remains the top issue among small business owners, with 25 percent reporting it as their single most important problem in operating their business, up four points from June. 
• Thirty-eight percent (seasonally adjusted) of all owners reported job openings they could not fill in the current period, up one point from June. 
• Seasonally adjusted, a net 33 percent reported raising compensation in July, down five points from June and the lowest reading since April 2021. 

“Cost pressures, especially labor costs, continue to plague small business operations, impacting their bottom line,” says NFIB Chief Economist Bill Dunkelberg. “Owners are heading towards unpredictable months ahead, not knowing how future economic conditions or government policies will impact them.”