Small Business: Hours Worked, Compensation Rose in August, Jobs Declined

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July Showed Higher-than-usual Rise in Revenues

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

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Small Business Employment Index – August

  • U.S. small business employment fell by 5,000 jobs in August, a decline of 0.02 percent for the month.
  • Hourly employees worked an average of 110.1 hours in August, an increase of 20 minutes from July’s revised figure.
  • Small business employees’ monthly pay increased by 0.30 percent – the equivalent of $8, with average monthly compensation reaching $2,838. Compensation is $44 per month higher than a year ago.

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 July 24 – Aug. 24.

The Intuit QuickBooks Small Business Employment Index shows a decrease of 0.02 percent in August. The Employment Index reflects data from approximately 264,356 small business employers, a subset of small businesses that use Intuit Online Payroll and QuickBooks Online Payroll.

Small Business Revenue Index – July

  • Revenue per small business increased 0.4 percent across all industries. That translates to an annualized rate of increase of 4.3 percent.
  • The Real Estate, Rental and Leasing industry showed the greatest increase in monthly revenue, rising 0.6 percent.
  • The Accommodation, Food Service and Drinking Places industry saw a very small decline in revenue from last month of 0.02 percent.

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

Small Business Employee Monthly Hours Worked for hourly employees increased by 0.30 percent in August. The levels reflect data from approximately 777,163 hourly employees of the Intuit Online Payroll and QuickBooks Online Payroll customer set of approximately 264,356 small businesses and is not necessarily representative of all small businesses.

A Closer Look at Results

  • The Small Business Employment Index

Small business employment fell by 5,000 jobs in August, an annual rate of 0.30 percent. However, Susan Woodward, the economist who works with Intuit to produce the indexes, said this change is very small.

“July’s figure was revised up by 2,000 jobs. The level of small business employment is 20.7 million jobs, so the August decline doesn’t indicate a clear or major sign of softness in the labor force,” Woodward said.

Over the past year, total payroll employment rose by about 240,000 jobs per month, to 142 million in July. At the same time, small business employment rose by about 16,000 jobs per month.

As seen in last month’s Employment Index, small business hiring rose in nearly all the states tracked by Intuit Online Payroll, with the largest gains in Idaho, Nevada, Minnesota and Alabama, the same states who were the biggest gainers last month.

“The hiring rate has been rising steadily since July 2009 when it reached a low of 4.75 percent. The small business hiring rate, now 5.27 percent, is higher than the hiring rate nationally, which is now about 3.7 percent, because labor turnover has always been higher for small business,” said Woodward.

Small Business Employee Monthly Compensation for all employees increased 0.30 percent in August. This data includes the compensation paid by small business owners to themselves. The levels reflect data from approximately 1.2 million employees of the Intuit Online Payroll and QuickBooks Online Payroll customer set of 264,356 small businesses, and are not necessarily representative of all small business employees.

  • Small Business Revenue Index

In July, small businesses saw a higher-than-usual rise in revenues. Across all industries, revenues rose 0.4 percent for the month, or 4.3 percent at an annual rate. The rate of increase for July is higher than the 3.3 percent rate over the past year. The Real Estate, Rental and Leasing and Construction industries posted the biggest gains this month, while the Accommodation, Food Services and Drinking posted the only decline, falling 2.7 percent at an annual rate. Over the last year, all industries have seen a gain, with the largest rise in Construction, at 5.3 percent.

“While small business revenue has only shown small gains for November 2014 through February 2015, there is no longer a winter ’mini-recession’ for small business,” Woodward said.

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.

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 264,356 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® and Mint.com, which make it easier to manage small businesses and payroll processing; tax preparation and filing; and personal finance. 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, with approximately 7,700 employees in 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
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Source: Intuit Inc.

Released September 1, 2015