SMBs Adding Jobs At Fastest Pace In 3 Years

According to the latest Small Business Employment Index, the hiring rate for small businesses has reached a three-year high.Small and midsize businesses created 66,000 new jobs in April according to the April Small Business Employment Index from Intuit. That is the fastest pace for SMB job growth in the three years and continues a trend that dates back to 2009; since that time 300,000 new jobs have been created in the segment.

Commenting on the findings, economist Susan Woodward of Sand Hill Econometrics said, "Small businesses are looking healthier. Every trend we measure -- employment, hours worked, and monthly compensation -- is showing signs of a recovery. Last month the national figures finally began to show a recovery for larger businesses and the entire economy, but for small businesses, the recovery has been underway for more than half a year."

Though not robust, compensation and monthly hours worked also increased in April by a meager half percent. Compensation has been flat since 2008 including the compensation that business owners allocate to themselves. Average monthly compensation is no $2,607.

The monthly index is based on payroll data from more than 50,000 small businesses using Intuit Online Payroll and represents approximately 220,000 employees.

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