A recent monthly jobs report from the National Federation of Independent Business shows a struggle for small businesses to find qualified candidates for open positions, Small Business Trends reports.

It was found that 42% of business owners have job openings that they have not been able to fill in the current period, accounting for nearly half.

A lack of qualified candidates has persisted as a problem for small businesses, with 23% of business owners considering the lack of qualified candidates to be a dominant problem affecting operations.

Business owners have also highlighted labor costs as being a problem, with 10% considering it their most important problem at hand.

A seasonally adjusted net 17% of business owners plan to create new jobs in the next three months. In July, 61% of owners had hired or attempted to hire new workers. 

Despite this, 33% of those attempting to hire reported finding few qualified candidates, with another 23% encountering none.

The response to this shortage from owners has been to raise wages, with a net 38% having already done so, and another 21% planning to within the next three months.