Intuit Indexes Show Small Business Employment up for First Time since Summer

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arrows out After four consecutive months of decreases, small business employment increased in November, along with compensation and hours worked for hourly employees. Small businesses adding 10,000 jobs for the month raising the total to 385,000 since March 2010. These figures, as reported in Intuit Inc.’s monthly Small Business Employment and Revenue Indexes, indicate:

• A 0.06 percent increase in employment during November 2013.

• A 0.4 percent rise in average monthly compensation; a $10 increase over October.

• A 0.6 percent increase in average monthly hours worked by hourly employees, approximately 36 minutes more than in October.

“We’ve recently seen small reversals in an already very slow recovery in small business employment,” said Susan Woodward, the economist who worked with Intuit to create the indexes. “The total recovery in small business employment from the dip in March 2010 is just under 2 percent, or more than 0.5 percent per year. The pace over the last year has been a slightly slower increase, of 0.4 percent. After May 2013, the recovery has simply stalled.”

Woodward continued, “Despite these discouraging statistics, all of Intuit’s other small business health measures are hopeful. Hours worked and monthly compensation are both unambiguously up and, most exciting of all, this month’s hiring rate is the highest we have seen since January 2009. The hiring rate reflects openings that businesses fill to replace employees who leave for better or different jobs. This means people are confident enough to leave jobs – an encouraging sign for the economy.”

 

By Joshua Bjerke