The CBIZ Small Business Employment Index (SBEI), a barometer for hiring trends that surveys data from 3,500 companies with 300 or fewer employees, decreased by .08 percent during the month of July. While the index is essentially flat for the month, the number is the best reading for the July period in six years.

The four previous SBEI reports all reported growth, which is consistent with other macro numbers showing that Main Street is cautiously re-entering the labor market, as consumer demand slowly picks up.

“I am very pleased and optimistic about the four consecutive positive months ranging from March through June 2014, coupled with what is essentially a ‘no change’ in July. The reality is that more companies added staff versus those that reduced payroll headcount,” says Philip Noftsinger, business unit president for CBIZ Payroll Services. “Looking ahead, we can expect a more negative employment picture in September as part-time labor begins to wind down off the summer months, and we prepare for the holiday shopping season.”

Additional take-away points from the July SBEI jobs numbers include:

  • At-a-glance: Slightly more than a quarter of the firms reporting added staff during the July period, while just under 24 percent cut staff headcount. The remainder of the businesses (approximately 51 percent) kept employee counts static month over month.
  • Seasonality of hiring: Realizing that the SBEI is not seasonally adjusted, it is reasonable to assume that our small business employers believed that their current labor levels were sufficient to meet demand during the period, indicating that demand levels had not changed from June to July.

CBIZ Payroll Services manages payroll services for more than 3,500 businesses. Its index reflects a broad array of industries and geographies corresponding to the markets across the United States where CBIZ provides human capital services. The data represented by the SBEI is derived from a segment of employers not completely accounted for by the ADP and Federal BLS employment reports.

Editor’s note:

(1) The SBEI illustration is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License. Based on a work at http://blog.cbiz.com.

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About CBIZ, Inc.

CBIZ, Inc. provides professional business services that help clients better manage their finances and employees. CBIZ provides its clients with financial services including accounting, tax, financial advisory, government health care consulting, risk advisory, real estate consulting, and valuation services. Employee services include employee benefits consulting, property and casualty insurance, retirement plan consulting, payroll, life insurance, HR consulting, and executive recruitment. As one of the nation’s largest brokers of employee benefits and property and casualty insurance, and one of the largest accounting and valuation companies in the United States, the Company’s services are provided through nearly 100 Company offices in 34 states. http://cbiz.com