Here's a pre-NFP shocker.

The NFIB -- the small business organization that regularly measures the pulse of small business economic activity -- just sent out a warning on the jobs situation (via @edwardnh).

It's awful.

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WASHINGTON, D.C., June 2, 2011 — Chief economist for the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) William C. Dunkelberg, issued the following statement on May job numbers, based on NFIB’s monthly economic survey that will be released on Tuesday, June 7, 2011. The survey was conducted in May and reflects 733 randomly-sampled small-business owner respondents:



“After solid job gains early in the year, progress has slowed to a trickle. The two NFIB indicators—job openings and hiring plans—that predict the unemployment rate both fell, suggesting that the rate itself will rise.



“May’s job numbers will disappoint; meaningful job creation on Main Street has collapsed.



“Twelve percent (seasonally adjusted) of small-business owners reported unfilled job openings (down 2 points). Further indications of minimal future growth include the fact that in the next three months, 13 percent plan to increase employment (down 3 points), and 8 percent plan to reduce their workforce (up 2 points). That yields a seasonally adjusted net negative 1 percent of owners planning to create new jobs, a 3 point loss from April.



“Overall, reports of job reductions have returned to historically normal levels. However, the percent of owners hiring has not recovered to levels historically observed after two years of expansion. With one in four owners still reporting ‘weak sales’ as their No. 1 business problem, there is little need to add employees, especially with the uncertainty about future labor costs arising from new regulation and legislation. And, if Congress doesn’t deal effectively with the trillion dollar deficit, we’ve got plenty to keep us worried.”