Net Hiring Remains Flat in Small Businesses

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Intuit Inc. issued its monthly Small Business Employment and Revenue Indexes today. Below are topline results from each of the reports.

Small Business Employment Index – September

• U.S. small business employment remained flat in September, posting a decline of 0.01 percent from the August figure.
• Hourly employees worked an average of 109.9 hours in September, a decline of 0.06 percent from last month’s figure, the equivalent of four minutes.
• Small business employees’ average monthly pay increased by 0.05 percent, bringing average monthly compensation to $2,838, up $2 from August.

These findings come from the monthly Intuit Small Business Employment Index and are based on data from Intuit Online Payroll and QuickBooks Online, covering the period from Aug. 24 – Sept. 24.

Small Business Revenue Index – August

• Revenue per small business decreased 0.3 percent across all industries in August. That would translate to an annualized decline rate of 3.1 percent.
• While revenues for Construction rose by 0.09 percent, Real Estate Services saw the biggest revenue decline, 0.4 percent.

This index is based on data from QuickBooks Online, covering the period from Aug. 1-30.

A Closer Look at Results

•  The Small Business Employment Index

In September, net hiring for small businesses remained flat for the second consecutive month. Employment for small business totaled 20.65 million nationally, up 155,000, or 0.8 percent, from a year ago. From August 2014 to August 2015, total national payroll employment rose 2.1 percent.

“Despite the flat net hiring, the hiring rate, which reflects people hired to replace leaving workers as well as new hires, continued at 5.25 percent per month, accounting for turnover in small business employees. The hiring rate has risen steadily since mid-2009,” said Susan Woodward the economist who works with Intuit to produce the indexes.

Half of the states that Intuit tracks saw employment rise. The highest growth was in Texas, where small business employment grew at 2.1 percent annualized. Similar to August’s Employment Index, small business hiring continued to rise in Nevada, Arizona and Idaho. Most states saw a slight drop in hours worked for hourly workers, but a slight rise in total compensation.

    Small Business Revenue Index

Reversing the higher-than-usual revenue growth reported in July, small businesses saw a revenue decline in August. Revenues declined across all industries by 0.3 percent, an annualized rate of 3.1 percent.

The Real Estate Services industry reported the biggest decline, with revenue falling 0.4 percent, or 5.2 percent annualized.

“These figures reflect the National Association of Realtors estimate that home sales fell by 4.8 percent on an annualized basis in August,” Woodward said. “Over the history from 2004, the highest variation in revenue change per month is for Real Estate Services.”

From August 2014 to August 2015, all industry groups saw a rise in revenue – 1.4 percent overall – with Construction having the largest increase of 4.1 percent.

About the Intuit Small Business Indexes

The Intuit Small Business Indexes provide unique, near real-time information each month on the activity of the smallest businesses in the U.S. in terms of revenue, hiring and compensation trends.

The Employment Index is based on anonymized, non-identifiable aggregated data from 267,074 small business employers, a subset of users of Intuit Online Payroll and QuickBooks Online The Revenue Index is based on anonymized, non-identifiable aggregated data from 240,000 small businesses, a subset of users of Intuit’s QuickBooks Online with industry identification from Dun & Bradstreet.

Together, the indexes provide a more complete picture of the economic health of the nation’s small businesses. More information on the Intuit Small Business Indexes is available at index.intuit.com.

About Intuit Inc.

Intuit Inc. creates business and financial management solutions that simplify the business of life for small businesses, consumers and accounting professionals. Its flagship products and services include QuickBooks and TurboTax, which make it easier to manage small businesses and tax preparation and filing. Mint.com provides a fresh, easy and intelligent way for people to manage their money while ProSeries and Lacerte are Intuit's leading tax preparation offerings for professional accountants.

Founded in 1983, Intuit had revenue of $4.2 billion in its fiscal year 2015. The company has approximately 7,700 employees with major offices in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, India and other locations.