Small Business Employment Remained Stagnant in October

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Revenue Declined for Second Consecutive Month in September

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Intuit Inc. (Nasdaq:INTU) issued its monthly Small Business Employment and Revenue Indexes today. Below are topline results from each of the reports.

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Small Business Employment Index – October

  • U.S. small business employment grew only slightly, increasing 0.01 percent
  • Hourly employees worked an average of 113.1 hours, an increase of 0.6 percent from the September figure. This is an increase of an additional 45 minutes per month.
  • Small business employees’ average monthly pay also increased by 0.6 percent, bringing average monthly compensation to $2,904. This is $17 more than they were paid in September.

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

The Intuit QuickBooks Small Business Employment Index shows a slight increase of 0.01 percent in October. The Employment Index reflects data from approximately 271,750 small business employers, a subset of small businesses that use Intuit Online Payroll and QuickBooks Online Payroll.

Small Business Revenue Index – September

  • Revenue per small business was down by 0.3 percent across all industries, which translates to an annualized decline of 3.9 percent.
  • Real Estate Services had the greatest revenue decline, 0.7 percent, or an 8.1 percent annualized decline.

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

The Intuit QuickBooks Small Business Revenue Index is based on data from more than 240,000 small businesses, a subset of the total QuickBooks Online user base.

A Closer Look at Results

  • The Small Business Employment Index

In October, although the overall small business hiring rate increased to 5.3 percent – the highest level since the recession recovery began – net hiring remained stagnant.

“The employment decline in the recent months adds up to a jobs loss of 4,000 since July 2015, a small number compared to the 20.6 million people employed by small businesses,” said Susan Woodward, the economist who works with Intuit to produce the indexes. “With a high hiring rate but no net hires, the hiring rate of 5.3 percent is all turnover – firms replacing people who quit or were fired.”

The monthly hours worked by small business employees increased significantly – a total of 45 minutes, to 113.1 hours.

“Hours worked is at the highest level we’ve seen since we began reporting this data in 2004, far outside of normal. I expect that businesses will soon hire new people and reduce hours for existing employees, pushing ‘hours worked’ back to its normal level,” Woodward said.

The states with the largest employment increases included Arizona, Virginia and Nevada. The states with the largest declines were Wisconsin, Massachusetts and Maryland.

Small Business Employee Monthly Hours Worked for hourly employees increased by 0.6 percent in September. The levels reflect data from approximately 785,180 hourly employees of the Intuit Online Payroll and QuickBooks Online Payroll customer set of approximately 271,750 small businesses and is not necessarily representative of all small businesses.

  • Small Business Revenue Index

Small businesses had another month of revenue decline in September, with a decrease of 0.3 percent across all industries, an annualized decline of 3.9 percent.

The Real Estate Services industry reported the biggest revenue decline for the second month in a row, with revenue falling 0.7 percent, or an 8.1 percent decrease when annualized.

The Construction industry reported the largest revenue increase, with revenue increasing by 0.4 percent, or 5.2 percent annualized.

“Over the last year, the picture looks less discouraging, as revenues per business rose 1.6 percent. While the Construction industry grew, Accommodation fell 0.1 percent for the year,” Woodward said.

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 271,750 small business employers, a subset of users of Intuit Online Payroll and QuickBooks Online. The Revenue Index is based on anonymized, non-identifiable aggregated data from 240,000 small businesses, a subset of users of Intuit’s QuickBooks Online with industry identification from Dun & Bradstreet.

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® and TurboTax®, which make it easier to manage small businesses and tax preparation and filing. Mint.com provides a fresh, easy and intelligent way for people to manage their money while ProSeries® and Lacerte® are Intuit's leading tax preparation offerings for professional accountants.

Founded in 1983, Intuit had revenue of $4.2 billion in its fiscal year 2015. The company has approximately 7,700 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.

Intuit Inc.
Sarah Voros, 650-944-4385
sarah_voros@intuit.com
or
Access Communications
Katie Sells, 415-844-6246
ksells@accesspr.com

Source: Intuit Inc.

Released November 10, 2015