October 2009 Regional Small Business Trends

Once again, the Midwest, Northeast, and South experienced hiring growth in October while the West was down. On the pay side of things, all four regions experienced salary declines in October.

The Midwest led the country in small business growth for October. Monthly hiring gains for the Midwest, Northeast, South and West were 0.5 percent, 0.3 percent, 0.3 percent and -0.1 percent, respectively.

As mentioned above, average salaries declined in all four regions last month. In the Midwest, Northeast, South and West, salaries changes were -1.0 percent, -.9 percent, -0.5 percent and -0.4 percent, respectively.

With respect to year-to-date performance, hiring changes for the Midwest, Northeast, South and West are 4.7 percent, 5.2 percent, 3.5 percent and -2.1 percent, respectively. Year-to-date salary changes are -6.9 percent, -8.8 percent, -6.0 percent and -1.6 percent, respectively.

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.