Weekly Hours Worked Up Among Small Businesses

While the Paychex | IHS Markit Small Business Employment Watch for August shows a continued decrease in the rates of small business jobs and wage growth, it also reveals that weekly hours worked are on the rise. Down 0.12 percent in August to 99.22, the Small Business Jobs Index has fallen for three consecutive months and is 0.73 percent lower than a year ago. The rate of hourly earnings growth in August stands at 2.21 percent. Despite the hiring slowdown, the number of weekly hours worked has been increasing for the past 21 months (up 0.52 percent YOY), helping weekly earnings growth (up 2.74 percent YOY).

Read the full news release on the Small Business Employment Watch site.