The National Independent Business Federation (NFIB) said on Thursday that nearly half of small business owners in the US reported job vacancies in July, a record high, more than double the historical average.

The association said in its monthly employment report that after adjusting for seasonal factors, 49% of small business owners reported job vacancies in July, up from 46% in June, and 27 percentage points higher than the average of 22% over the past 48 years.

The report also showed that 93% of employers said they received few or no “qualified” applications for the positions they were trying to fill in July.

Small businesses in the US are continuing to face labor shortages this summer. The COVID-19 pandemic, which has continued for more than a year, has put pressure on business activities and worsened labor shortages.

According to the report, 43% of the small enterprises surveyed had vacancies for skilled workers, and 25% had vacancies for unskilled workers. Both of these were up 3 percentage points from June.

Analysts expect the US Department of Labor to announce on Friday that the number of people employed on non-farm workers increased by 870,000 in July, compared to 850,000 last month. At this rate, the number of jobs will still be nearly 5.9 million fewer than the peak in February 2020.