Small Businesses Give the Gift of a Job

Reuters

Small businesses are adding jobs, not at a scorching pace by any stretch, but they are hiring nonetheless.

That’s the word from the latest report on small business employment from Intuit Inc. The Mountain View, California-based business and financial management for small and mid-sized firms, found that small business employment grew 0.3 percent, or by 57,000 jobs in December. The company also revised upward its November estimate to 73,000 jobs added by small businesses.

“Small business is still the most vigorous sector of the employment picture,” Susan Woodward, the economist who worked with Intuit to create the index, said in a release. “We generally see a rise in employment for all businesses in December, but this year it is unusually strong. We can hardly see the recovery in overall national employment, but among small businesses, the recovery, albeit slow, is unambiguous.”

The data comes ahead of an official employment report to be released Friday by the Department of Labor, but generally backs the notion that small businesses are slowly and cautiously brushing off the effects of the Great Recession.

Hours worked by small business employees also rose, another potentially positive indicator that small business owners may have to start hiring more workers.

“Hours are still strong,” Woodward said. “We might expect that after months of high hours per employee, that businesses would hire and hours would fall back to normal. Instead, we see hiring up and hours worked up also. These are good signs for the recovery.”

On the negative side, small business owners weren’t giving many raises. Compensation in the sector remained flat.