Small businesses decreased employee headcount by 0.2% in 2006. That's significantly less than the 4.4% growth we experienced in 2004 and a modest drop from the 0.3% increase we witnessed in 2005.
The national SurePayroll Hiring Index, which measures the number of employees within small businesses, ended December at 10,442, up 15 points from November. We closed 2005 at 10,466.
December marked only the fourth month in 2006 in which we saw increased hiring. We'll have to wait until 2007 to see if small business hiring continues to rise, stays flat or shoots down.
Small business salaries increased by 7.4% in 2006. Small business salaries decreased by 0.5% in 2005. In 2004, small business salaries dropped 4.8% on average.
Small business paychecks were up in December but by less than a single index point. The SurePayroll Pay Index clocked in at 1018 at the end of December, exactly where it stood at the end of November.
Salaries rose in every single month of 2006.
The monthly SurePayroll Scorecard data for December 2006 can be found in the table below.
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About the Scorecard
The SurePayroll Hiring Index and the SurePayroll Pay Index are generated as part of SurePayroll’s Small Business Scorecard, an economic indicator that tracks the health of the U.S. small business economy. The Small Business Scorecard is generated from actual payroll data — paychecks issued to contractors and employees — for tens of thousands of small businesses nationwide.
Questions regarding the SurePayroll Small Business Scorecard can be directed to Michael Alter. Michael can be reached at malter@surepayroll.com or by phone at 847.676.8420 ext. 7229.
Small Business Scorecards Archive:
