Small business hiring was on the rise last month, up 0.2 percent nationwide. Salaries declined 0.9 percent.
The Hiring Index is a proxy for the size of the average small business workforce, including employees and contractors. Its rise last month implies that on average small businesses managed to add employees last month, even in spite of the many economic challenges they are facing.
In part, the ability to add an employee is made easier by the ongoing declines in the salaries of small business employees.
The average small business salary decreased for the 19th consecutive month, as evidenced by the SurePayroll Pay Index dropping nine points in August to 967.
The monthly SurePayroll Scorecard data for August 2009 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:
