The record low unemployment rate of 6.9 per cent rate in New Brunswick is raising labour costs for small businesses.

The three-decade low is the result of a higher number of jobs combined with a shrinking workforce. There were 25,000 fewer people looking for work in the province in February.

Jeff Magnussen, who owns Read's Newsstand in Fredericton, said he knows all too well that fewer people chasing more jobs can drive wages up. He said he's working harder than ever to attract employees.

"The choice that they have now is 'I can work at place X, or I can work at place Y,' " Magnussen said Sunday. " 'One offers considerably more per hour, and I think I'll try that one first.' So they're going directly after the wage per hour."

Magnussen said it's also getting harder to find the right type of employee, and when he does, training is expensive, especially when employees are likely to leave for another job.

"The whole hiring process over the past five years, especially in the last two to three years, has become extremely challenging and extremely demanding on our business," he said.

Samuel Lebreton, a senior economist with Service Canada, said more jobs are good news for the province, but agreed there can be pitfalls.
 
"In New Brunswick, and across the country actually, the unemployment rate is going lower and lower, and one of the effects is that we have a hard time finding the proper people to do the jobs."

He said the pressure on the labour market is likely to continue, because the first of the baby boomers will soon be retiring, triggering what's likely to be a shrinking workforce for years to come.