A pair of employment reports indicated that small businesses cut back on their hiring last month.
ADPs monthly national employment report on Wednesday showed that small businesses lost 6,000 jobs in August. That included 21,000 jobs lost in the goods-producing sector, offset by a gain of 15,000 jobs in the servicing-providing sector.
Intuit reported on Monday that small-business employment grew slightly in August, but at a declining rate compared to healthy gains in January through April. Intuit reported 26,000 new small-business jobs nationwide, a gain of 0.1 percent. Intuit defines small businesses as ones with fewer than 20 employees, while ADP defines them as businesses with between one and 49 employees. Both companies base their employment reports on their own payroll customers. The Labor Department will release the governments employment report on Friday.
Intuits data shows that workers made slightly more money and worked a fraction of an hour longer than the month before. Compensation grew by 0.06 percent in August to $2,599 per month, up slightly from a revised estimate of $2,598 per month in July. Monthly hours increased nominally by 0.04 percent in August to 103.8 hours, about the same as July. This translates to wages of about $31,200 per year for all employees, and a 24.0 hour work week for hourly employees.
ADP also reported on employment at larger businesses. Midsized businesses with between 50 and 499 employees lost 5,000 jobs in August, while large businesses with 500 or more employees gained 1,000 jobs. Combined with the small-business figures, ADP reported that private sector employment declined by 10,000 jobs overall in August.
