Small businesses created 55,000 jobs in November, but employees worked fewer hours and earned less money, says a new report.
Intuit, a Mountain View, Calif-based payrolls processing company, said it gathered data anonymously from some 70,900 small businesses nationwide with fewer than 20 employees. The small businesses use the company's Intuit Online Payroll System.
The average work week for small business employees fell 0.3 percent from October to 24.9 hours, while the average monthly salary dipped 18 percent to $2,637. (In October employees earned $2,642.) The equivalent annual salary: $31,600, which is part-time work for most employees.
"Total compensation is down, part-time workers aren't getting as many hours and there are fewer hourly employees who are working full time," said Susan Woodward, the economist who helped to develop the survey.
Since the hiring trend began in October 2009, small businesses have created 1,155,000 new jobs, according to Intuit's figures.
Intuit also upwardly revised its October figures based on modified national employment data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. It previously reported 30,000 jobs gained; it now says 60,000.
"The seasonally adjusted small business employment growth rate is up this month, but the overall signals are mixed," Woodward said. "Overall, this data is the best we could hope for given the uncertainty of the situation in Europe."
By region, every area of the country showed gains in jobs except the Mid-Atlantic, which was down .01 percent. The West South Central showed the greatest gains: 0.5 percent.
Intuit also reported state data for 15 states where it has at least 1,000 small business clients. Of these, Oregon and New York were the only two reporting a decline in jobs. Florida and Texas showed the greatest gains: 0.5 percent.
The government will release a much anticipated employment report for November on Friday. According to a Reuters survey, nonfarm payrolls likely increased 122,000. They rose 80,000 in October.
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