Small businesses created 35,000 new jobs in August, but employees worked fewer hours and received less money, according to figures from Intuit Inc.’s Online Payroll clients.
Intuit’s Small Business Employment Index found that small business employment increased by 0.18 percent in August and hours worked by 0.3 percent. Compensation also rose by 0.08 percent.
Based on these latest numbers and revised national employment data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Intuit revised slightly downward the previously reported growth rate for July to 0.21 percent from 0.24 percent. This equates to 40,000 jobs added in July.
“There was plenty of bad news this month and the Intuit small business employment figures show this,” said Susan Woodward, the economist who worked with Intuit to create the index. “While employment rose overall, and increased in most of the regions and states that we report on, there are other signs that the small business labor market is weak. Compensation and hours worked fell—which is the opposite of what we saw in July. From this month’s numbers, we don’t see a new recession, but we don’t see a robust recovery either. The labor market for smaller businesses is still soft.”
Hourly employees at small businesses worked an average of 108 hours in August, making for a 24.9-hour workweek. That was a 0.3 percent increase from the revised July figure of 108.3 hours.
Average monthly pay for all small business employees was $2,649 per month in August, a 0.08 percent decrease compared to the July revised estimate of $2,651 per month. The equivalent annual wages would be about $31,800 per year, which is part-time work for many small business employees.
The Intuit Small Business Employment Index is based on aggregate and anonymous online employment data from approximately 69,000 small business employers, each with fewer than 20 employees.
