The latest survey on small business hiring from Paychex and a company called IHS shows that growth slowed a bit again in October, but overall the numbers nationwide still remain positive.
That according to Paychex CEO Marty Mucci, who says it’s not surprising that growth in small business hiring has leveled off somewhat.
“I think when you come out of the recession and it was so slow to come out, I think we kind of reached a peak last year and now it’s kind of leveled off. Now it’s still a steady growth of employment, which is good news, but it definitely is not at the highs it was last year”
Mucci says one negative is that some of the hiring going on involves part-time work, which generally means lower wages and benefits. But he says a positive is that there’s growth in personal services, areas where people feel confident enough to spend discretionary income.
He says one factor that may be slowing job growth is the fact that a lot of small business owners are coping with increased regulation and other costs.
“As a business owner , when I feel more rules, regulations , taxes cost me, I may hire less , I’m going to be more conservative about hiring, I may hire more part time like we’re seeing , just to be careful to make sure that my demand is there for my products before I bring too much expense on."
Mucci says the strongest growth in small business jobs continues to be in the Western U.S. and also in Florida.
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