CBIZ Small Business Employment Index Rebounds In August

The CBIZ Small Business Employment Index (SBEI), a barometer for hiring trends among companies with 300 or fewer employees, increased by 1.15 percent during August, following a decrease of 1.57 percent in July.

ADP’s August jobs survey uncovered that the private sector added 201,000 jobs, achieving its biggest gain in five months and surpassing July’s revised tally of 173,000 added jobs.

CBIZ Payroll Services manages payroll services for more than 3,000 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.

“Mirroring other employment reports released last Friday, the CBIZ Small Business Employment Index also shows a gain for the month of August. These data sets, taken together, provide some hope that employment is at least on solid ground and increasing moderately,” suggested Philip Noftsinger, business unit president for CBIZ Payroll Services.

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 August data set include:

• At-a-glance: Of the companies surveyed, 29 percent increased staffing while 20 percent of the companies decreased employee headcounts. 51 percent of the companies surveyed maintained their number of employees.
• Small business sector: The nation's unemployment rate will continue to be a major issue moving into the fourth quarter. Additionally, as the oft-mentioned fiscal cliff approaches, more small business owners may be hesitant to hire new employees in anticipation of a reduction in business demand.
• What-to-watch: As students return to college campuses and the summer travel season wanes, we should expect to see the SBEI turn negative for September before heading higher once more as we approach the holiday shopping season.

“In order to have a material impact on the broad number of unemployed Americans, job growth will need to continue to grow at a pace much faster than we have experienced over the past few months,” said Noftsinger.

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