Press release
August Job Growth Among Small Businesses Unchanged from July
Hourly earnings growth is below four percent for the second-straight month ROCHESTER, N.Y.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- According to the Paychex | IHS Markit Small
About this update from Paychex, Inc.
[{"type":"text","content":"\nHourly earnings growth is below four percent for the second-straight month\n\n\n ROCHESTER, N.Y.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--\nAccording to the Paychex | IHS Markit Small Business Employment Watch, the national Small Business Jobs Index — which measures the rate of small business job growth in the U.S. — is essentially flat at 99.10, a decrease of 0.04% in August. Meanwhile, an hourly earnings growth rate of 3.98% among U.S. small businesses is unchanged in August from July and below four percent for the second consecutive month.\n\nThis press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230829186123/en/From July to August, the national Small Business Jobs Index is essentially flat while hourly earnings growth nationally is below four percent for the second-straight month. (Graphic: Business Wire)\n“The Small Business Jobs Index moderated for the fifth consecutive month and the flattening of earnings growth both align with a stabilizing U.S. labor market,” said James Diffley, chief regional economist, S&P Global Market Intelligence.\n\n\n“Our data indicates America’s small businesses are adding workers at a sustained and modest rate,” said John Gibson, Paychex president and CEO. “Regarding hourly earnings, last month we reported a growth rate below four percent for the first time since 2021. Seeing that trend continue this month is an encouraging sign that wages are normalizing along with overall inflation.”\n\n\nIn further detail, the August report shows:\n\n\n\nThe pace of small business job growth has changed over the past year from 99.94 in August 2022 to 99.10 in August 2023.\n\n\n\nDespite slowing for the sixth consecutive month, North Carolina is once again the top-ranked state for small business job growth (100.69), overtaking Texas (100.46).\n\n\n\nHouston’s jobs index (102.06) ranks first among metros in August and is more than a point higher than second-ranked Miami (100.82).\n\n\n\nHourly earnings growth was unchanged at 3.98% in August, though one-month annualized growth increased to 4.71%.\n\n\n\nWeekly hours worked growth has slowed in recent months and is down 0.45% year-over-year.\n\n\n\nAt 99.71, the South leads regional small business job growth for the 17th consecutive month despite slowing each month since February 2023.\n\n\n\nOnly four states have increased thei...