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Paychex-IHS Small Business Jobs Index down to 99.01 in November
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The Paychex | IHS Markit Small Business Employment Watch data for November shows that the tight labor market continues to make for challenging hiring conditions. The Small Business Jobs Index declined for the sixth consecutive month, falling 0.11 percent from October to 99.01 in November. Despite the low rate of job growth, the rate of hourly wage growth increased slightly, now standing at 2.38 percent ($0.63).
“With the Jobs Index at its lowest level since 2010, small businesses continue to have difficulty finding workers in the competitive hiring environment of 2018,” said James Diffley, chief regional economist at IHS Markit.
“Even as the seasonal rush approaches, we’re seeing restrained levels of job growth among small businesses,” said Martin Mucci, Paychex president and CEO. “In the new year, while business and consumer confidence is high, we expect employers will continue to be challenged with the low unemployment rate and rising wage rate levels.”
Broken down further by geography and industry, the November report showed:
- The top regions for employment growth and wage growth, respectively, are the South and West.
- Pennsylvania and Massachusetts are the weakest states for small business job growth; Arizona is the top state for wage growth.
- Dallas regained its top spot among metros in jobs growth, as did Riverside, California, in wage growth.
Construction reached a new record high in hourly earnings growth at 3.31 percent.
The Paychex | IHS Markit Small Business Employment Watch shows hourly earnings growth increased to 2.38 percent and job growth decreased by 0.85 percent from a year ago
Posted: December 4, 2018 Tuesday 08:30 AM