Small Business Employment, Pay and Revenue Continue Growing; Hours Worked Declined Slightly in December

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Intuit Inc. INTU today issued its monthly Small Business Employment and Revenue Indexes. Here are topline results from each of the reports:

Small Business Employment Index

• U.S. small businesses added 30,000 new jobs in December, an increase of 0.14 percent from November, making for more than 860,000 jobs added since March 2010.
• Small business employees saw a 0.15 percent increase in monthly compensation, with average monthly pay reaching $2,782, up $4 from November.
• Hourly employees worked an average of 109.2 hours in December, down 5 minutes, or 0.08 percent, from November's revised figure.

These findings come from the monthly Intuit QuickBooks Small Business Employment Index and are based on data from Intuit Online Payroll and QuickBooks Online Payroll, covering the period from Nov. 24 – Dec. 23.

Small Business Revenue Index

• Revenues per small business increased by 0.03 percent in November, roughly 3.5 percent when annualized.
• The Other Services category showed the largest growth, up 0.45 percent. Construction followed with growth of 0.4 percent.
• The real estate and rental and leasing service sector showed the only decline in November, dropping 0.18 percent.

This index is based on data from QuickBooks Online, covering the period from Nov. 1-30.

A Closer Look at Results

• The Small Business Employment Index

Small businesses hired 30,000 people on a seasonally adjusted basis in December, according to analysis by Intuit of data from Intuit Online Payroll.

“Intuit's data shows strong gains in both hiring and hourly wages for small business in December. Less dramatic changes are a rise in total compensation, a decline in hours worked (after a big gain in November), a decline in full-time work, and a rise in the new-hire rate. Nearly all states saw an expansion of small business employment, and most saw compensation rise and hours decline as well,” said Susan Woodward, the economist who works with Intuit to produce the Small Business Employment and Revenue Indexes.

The rate of small business employment expansion, 1.7 percent on an annualized basis, is below the 2.8 percent rise last month for the economy overall. Economy wide, employment has risen 8 percent since the worst part of the recession, but only 4.4 percent for small business. This reflects the very slow recovery of construction, which is a bigger fraction of small business than of the overall economy.

“A good sign is that wages for hourly workers employed by small businesses rose again,” said Woodward. The hourly wage was up at a 3.4 percent rate in December, after a 3.7 percent rise in November. From December 2013 through December 2014, wages increased 2.6 percent. “With inflation at 1.3 percent, this represents a real gain.”

Small business employment rose in nearly all states reported individually by Intuit. The states with the largest expansion were Washington, Virginia, Oregon and Nevada, which were all also among the biggest gainers in October and November. States losing small business employment were Michigan, Massachusetts, and Ohio, all of which lost small business jobs in October and November. In most states, hours worked fell but total compensation rose slightly, reflecting the strong rise in hourly wages.

• Small Business Revenue Index

Across all industries, small business revenue per business showed little gains in November, a mere 0.3 percent at an annual rate on a seasonally-adjusted basis, according to data from Intuit's QuickBooks Online.

The biggest rise for November was for Other Services, at a 5.5 percent annual rate, followed by Construction, at 4.9 percent. The only industry group with a decline in revenues per business was Real Estate Services, with a decline of 2.7 percent on an annual basis.

“Since May 2009, when small business revenues began to expand after the crisis, revenues have grown by 5.8 percent per year, per business,” said Woodward. “The fastest growth over that period was for professional services, at 7.8 percent per year, and the slowest for health care, at 2.6 percent.”

About the Intuit Small Business Indexes

The Intuit Small Business Indexes provide unique, near real-time information each month on the activity of the smallest businesses in the U.S. in terms of revenue, hiring and compensation trends.

The Employment Index is based on anonymized, non-identifiable aggregated data from approximately 250,500 small business employers, a subset of users that use Intuit Online Payroll and QuickBooks Online Payroll. The Revenue Index is based on anonymized, non-identifiable aggregated data from approximately 150,000 small businesses, a subset of users that use Intuit's QuickBooks Online financial management offering and are matched in Dun & Bradstreet's small business industry classifications.

Together, the indexes provide a more complete picture of the economic health of the nation's small businesses. More information on the Intuit Small Business Indexes is available at index.intuit.com.

About Intuit Inc.

Intuit Inc. creates business and financial management solutions that simplify the business of life for small businesses, consumers and accounting professionals.

Its flagship products and services include QuickBooks®, Quicken® and TurboTax®, which make it easier to manage small businesses and payroll processing, personal finance, and tax preparation and filing. Mint.com provides a fresh, easy and intelligent way for people to manage their money, while Demandforce® offers marketing and communication tools for small businesses. ProSeries® and Lacerte® are Intuit's leading tax preparation offerings for professional accountants.

Founded in 1983, Intuit had revenue of $4.5 billion in its fiscal year 2014. The company has approximately 8,000 employees with major offices in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, India and other locations. More information can be found at www.intuit.com.

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