CLEVELAND–(BUSINESS WIRE)–
The CBIZ
Small Business Employment Index (SBEI), a barometer for hiring
trends that surveys data from 3,500 companies with 300 or fewer
employees, increased by .52 percent during November following a decrease
of .42 percent during October.
Wednesday’s ADP’s November survey revealed that the private sector added
215,000 jobs during the month, which is the strongest job growth
reported this year. In addition, October’s revised tally is 184,000 jobs
created, after 130,000 new jobs were reported initially.
“Approaching the holiday shopping season with optimism, we know that
retailers spent the month stocking shelves. A small increase in the SBEI
seems to indicate that, by and large, smaller retail shops performed
those tasks with only minimal hiring. Although the reading was less than
what we had hoped for, it was better than three of the last four
November reports,” shares Philip Noftsinger, business unit president for CBIZ
Payroll Services. “There are mixed economic signals in the numbers
right now, but most retailers seemed to be optimistic about this holiday
season,” he continues.
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 November data set include:
-
At-a-glance: Payroll stability was the predominant theme as 54
percent of the companies in the index had no change in staffing, while
24.1 percent added staff during the month. 22.1 percent cut payrolls
in November, compared to 20 percent in November 2012. -
Small business sector: The
NFIB report continues to show a lack of (and even an erosion of)
optimism among small business owners and consumer confidence has been
on a two month slide. -
What to watch: It will take a little longer for the dust to
settle and the real results to show, however, expect retail operators
to extend their price breaks in an effort to recapture revenue that
may or may not have been left on the table since “Black Friday.”
“There is real evidence that the uptick in hiring is directly correlated
to a more aggressive retail shopping season, with brick-and-mortar
stores seeing 2.3 percent more traffic – per
a report by ShopperTrak – and therefore likely requiring more staff
to meet the surge. While the long-term ‘stickiness’ of these jobs is up
for debate, the hiring patterns for this time of year are consistent or
better than many of the recent Novembers,” adds 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.