Job market remains a major concern for Main Street, survey shows

On the surface, Ohio’s job market and fiscal condition appear rosy, but new data indicate there may be trouble lurking beneath the surface.

Data included in the National Federation of Independent Business Research Center’s second “State of the States” SBET report, which examines economic activity among Ohio’s small businesses, show that uncertainty and labor quality remain top concerns for the Buckeye State’s small businesses.

Uncertainty has been a significant concern for small businesses over the past year and a half, with a spike that surpassed previous records.

Additionally, while labor quality is the top issue in both Ohio and the nation, NFIB said it is 5 points worse in the Heart of it All than in the U.S. overall.

“Across a range of industries, Ohio small businesses are working hard to keep up with their customers’ demands and are reporting on par with other small businesses nationwide,” NFIB Ohio State Director Jared Weiser said in a release. “The main area of concern for Main Street is hiring, and specifically, finding qualified workers is a top challenge for small employers.”

Against this backdrop, CNBC found last week that Ohio topped the 2026 America’s Top States for Business, edging out North Carolina, Virginia, Texas, and Minnesota. However, in its findings, the news outlet noted that the state’s workforce ranks 34th, dragged down by limited population growth, lower educational attainment, and lagging productivity.

“Nearly one in four small businesses in Ohio say labor quality is their biggest challenge and many times, that comes down to being able to offer competitive packages for things like health insurance and compensation,” Weiser told WOSU. “So for small businesses, it’s very hard to compete with the large corporations that can offer tuition reimbursement for you and your family and other very generous benefit packages.”

Following the CNBC announcement, Americans for Prosperity-Ohio lauded the announcement, with State Director Donovan O’Neil saying in a release that “good policy produces good results, and Ohioans deserve to live in a state that leads instead of lags.”

While the took a victory lap for its Buckeye Blueprint, a push “for lower taxes, less regulatory red tape, reduced government bloat,” it noted an underlying concern about the state’s standing.

“Ohio still has work to do — workforce readiness remains a weak spot in this year’s rankings, and the fight to eliminate Ohio’s income tax and cut red tape further is far from over,” O’Neil said in a rlease. “But today is proof that when Ohio chooses pro-growth policy, Ohio wins. We’ll keep working until every corner of the Buckeye State feels the benefit.”

The latest jobs data from the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services, which covers the week of June 28 to July 4, revealed Ohioans filed 48,316 total claims — 42,132 continued unemployment claims,147 fewer than the previous week, and 6,184 initial unemployment claims, which was 1,839 more than the previous week.

Roughly 966 of those have been flagged for more stringent identity verification to ensure they are legit.

The state’s unemployment rate in May was 3.7%, better than the national unemployment rate of 4.3%. Additionally, Ohio’s labor force participation rate in May was 61.8%, matching the national rate.