Small Biz Hiring Index Rebounds in August after Sluggish July Performance

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jobsThe CBIZ Small Business Employment Index (SBEI) rose by 1.15 percent in August, reversing the significant dip of 1.57 percent in July. The results come following the news that the private sector had reached a five-month high in jobs added in August. The SBEI uses data collected from a subset of over 3,000 employers not entirely accounted for by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

“Mirroring other employment reports released last Friday, the CBIZ Small Business Employment Index also shows a gain for the month of August. These data sets, taken together, provide some hope that employment is at least on solid ground and increasing moderately,” suggested Philip Noftsinger, business unit president for CBIZ Payroll Services.

Additional key points from the August results include:

• 29 percent of polled companies increased staffing in August while 20 percent decreased their workforce. The remaining half maintained their previous month’s staff sizes.

• More small business are expected to be hesitant to hire new employees as the unemployment rate remains high and business demand is expected to be reduced.

• The SBEI is anticipated to turn negative in September as summer workers (typically college students) return to school and the travel seasons comes to a close. The Index is then expected to rebound nearer the end of the year as the holiday season approaches.

“In order to have a material impact on the broad number of unemployed Americans, job growth will need to continue to grow at a pace much faster than we have experienced over the past few months,” said Noftsinger.

By Joshua Bjerke