The Paychex | IHS Markit Small Business Employment Watch reported a slowdown with an employment growth index of 99.89 for October. Wage growth also slowed slightly with national hourly earnings at $ 26.07. Yet the last three months have been the most stable in the history of the small business index.
October 2017 Employment Statistics in Small Businesses
Although monthly hourly earnings have slowed nationally over the last few months, the overall picture is still good with a gain of one year to the other of 2, 91% or 74 cents. The South continues to lead the creation of jobs in small businesses with an index of 100.58 for the eighteenth consecutive month.
Paychex uses the payroll information in the report. The index sets a benchmark of 100 to monitor the health of small businesses. This is the breakeven point which indicates moderate wage and / or employment gains. The data comes from small businesses with fewer than 50 employees.
At least some of the declining enrollment (99.89 for small – firm employment growth nationally) was attributed in part to the impact of two major hurricanes.
"Although broadly stable, the national employment index fell slightly in October, undoubtedly affected to some extent by communities recently disrupted by natural disasters," Martin Mucci said. , CEO of Paychex.
Tampa, Miami and Houston are still struggling with troubled hours due to hurricanes Irma and Harvey.
The West has seen the fastest weekly earnings growth while the Midwest has seen declines since February. In terms of employment growth, Georgia had the best growth rate of one month in October. Hourly earnings in California surged as weekly gains in Florida plummeted
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