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Paychex-IHS Small Business Jobs Index increased slightly to 94.44 in September
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The latest Paychex | IHS Markit Small Business Employment Watch shows a in hiring from the previous month, rising 0.06 percent nationally and 0.36 percent in the Northeast. The national jobs index stands at 94.44, remaining in line with April’s reading of 94.63. Small business wage growth slowed to 3.14 percent in September, while growth in weekly hours worked maintained a solid pace, up 0.65 percent from last year. Weekly earnings growth held steady at 3.86 percent in September.
“While it was positive to see a slight improvement in September, the national jobs index and small business hiring has remained largely flat over the past several months,” said James Diffley, chief regional economist at IHS Markit.
“We’re starting to see signs of improvement in specific regions, including the Northeast, which was hit particularly hard in the early stages of the pandemic. Activity in the Construction industry has also been a bright spot,” said Martin Mucci, Paychex president and CEO. “Even with hiring levels remaining flat on the national level for many small businesses, when monitoring the number of employees being paid, steady growth is being seen, indicating that small businesses are bringing existing employees back to work.”
The report also includes regional, state, metro, and industry level analysis, showing:
- The Northeast had its biggest one-month gain in job growth since 2019, up 0.36 percent in September.
- Job growth in the West slowed 0.35 percent in September and 1.05 percent during the past quarter, ranking last among regions.
- New Jersey has improved each month since the April drop-off and neighboring New York has picked up the pace of job growth as well in recent months.
- The top three states for employment growth, Florida, Missouri, and Texas, all saw improvements in September.
- Construction leads all industry sectors in small business employment growth for the fifth consecutive month and is down just 1.38 percent from last year’s pace.
Small Business Jobs Index Increases Slightly Driven by Gains in the Northeast and the Construction Industry. The report by Paychex and IHS Markit showed a 0.06 percent uptick in national job growth
Posted: September 29, 2020 Tuesday 08:30 AM