Release Details

- While index lacked significant movement, small businesses continue to tread water -

CLEVELAND--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 2, 2013-- The CBIZ Small Business Employment Index (SBEI), a barometer for hiring trends for more than 3,500 companies with 300 or fewer employees, declined by .57 percent during July, following a decrease of .21 percent in June.

In contrast, ADP’s July jobs survey illustrated that the private sector added more workers than initially anticipated with a total of 200,000 jobs, topping analysts’ estimates of 180,000 jobs. Additionally, employment gains for the month of June were unexpectedly revised upward to 198,000.

“The CBIZ Small Business Employment Index showed no signs of significant movement in either direction for the second month in a row,” says Philip Noftsinger, business unit president for CBIZ Payroll Services. “The number of companies reporting a positive change basically matched those reporting a negative change.”

To view and/or use a graphic illustration that tracks and illustrates the employment index, visit our blog here.¹

Additional take-away points from the July data set include:

• At-a-glance: Of the companies surveyed, 24 percent increased staffing while 24 percent decreased staffing and 52 percent maintained their number of employees.
• Small business sector: Small business owners have the labor needed to meet existing demand, and until the consumer can re-enter the marketplace in terms of spending, we will continue to be stuck in a slow growth mode from a jobs perspective.
• What to watch: Small business owners continue to operate with a skeptical eye for the future. They’re unwilling or unable to make investments that will support economic growth as they see no clear fiscal policy direction. In addition, they are not able to point to macro economic factors that would indicate greater demand in the future.

“The jobs picture will continue to be clouded by the shifts in full-time and part-time workforces as businesses navigate around the health care requirements, and then again adjust to delays in those requirements,” says Noftsinger.

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.

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, merger and acquisition 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 32 states.

Source: CBIZ, Inc.

Gregory FCA for CBIZ, Inc.
Jimmy Moock, 610-228-2125
Cell: 610-348-7849
jimmy@gregoryfca.com