Hiring Dips Dramatically in October, According to CBIZ Small Business Employment Index
- SBEI reports that small businesses slashed headcounts by 1.62 percent month over month in October -
“The October period typically sees seasonal declines in small business
hiring,” says
Hiring among companies of all sizes across the U.S. told a different story this month. ADP and Moody’s Analytics reported that the economy created 235,000 new jobs in October, exceeding expectations by 35,000.
To view an infographic with data from the employment index, visit
the
Additional takeaways from the October SBEI include:
- October’s snapshot: Compared to the September reading of the SBEI, 21 percent of companies in the index increased headcounts, 49 percent did not change their staff totals and 30 percent reduced the size of their staff. October is historically a negative month for hiring, averaging a decline of 0.54 percent.
- Industries at a glance: The Mining and Insurance industries grew their workforces in October, while almost all other industries recorded declines, including Professional Services, Healthcare, Manufacturing and Retail Trade.
- Geographical hiring: While many may be quick to blame the hurricanes last month for the recent slowdown in small business hiring, regional hiring patterns do not reflect this assumption. The Central region saw hiring decline 1.79 percent, the Northeast recorded declines of 2.54 percent and the Southeast saw hiring fall by 1.56 percent. Meanwhile, the West was flat with a mild 0.06 percent improvement in hiring. As these numbers indicate, small businesses were reluctant to increase headcounts across nearly all geographies, not just those impacted by the severe weather.
-
What’s next? Small business owners are having a difficult time
finding qualified workers, a recent
release of the
National Federation of Independent Business' survey of small businesses revealed. According to Noftsinger, this unique problem might suggest that small businesses are operating in a strong economy in a state of full employment. However, small businesses are still struggling to hire a certain demographic of long-time unemployed individuals leftover from the 2008 recession that lack the necessary skills to work in today’s economy. This problem is not likely to be solved easily or quickly.
CBIZ Payroll Services manages payroll services for more than 4,000
businesses. Its index reflects a broad array of industries and
geographies corresponding to the markets across the U.S. where
Editor’s note:
(1) The SBEI Illustration is licensed under a
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View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20171103005052/en/
Source:
Gregory
FCA for CBIZ,
Inc.
Kelly Forst, 610-228-2396
kellyf@gregoryfca.com