Experts: Credit stalls Small-Business Hiring

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- The official release of May jobs numbers by the Bureau of Labor Statistics suggest small businesses need more access to credit if they are expected to contribute to job hiring and continue to be hurt by gas prices.

According to Friday's jobs report by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the private sector added just 83,000 jobs in May, a marked slowdown from the 244,000 jobs averaged in the past three months.

Small businesses need credit extensions to jump-start hiring.

The number coincides with ADP's May Employment Report, issued Wednesday, stating that the private sector added 38,000 jobs last month -- well below consensus estimates of 170,000.

Meanwhile, the smallest businesses across the U.S., hampered by high gas prices and natural disasters, added just 45,000 workers for the four weeks ending May 23, according to Intuit's(INTU) Small Business Employment Index.

According to preliminary results from the National Federation of Independent Business' monthly economic survey (to be released June 14), fewer small businesses plan to increase employment, while slightly more plan to reduce their work force in the next three months.

"With one in four owners still reporting 'weak sales' as their No. 1 business problem, there is little need to add employees, especially with the uncertainty about future labor costs arising from new regulation and legislation," according to a statement by NFIB Chief Economist William Dunkelberg. "And if Congress doesn't deal effectively with the trillion-dollar deficit, we've got plenty to keep us worried."