Small Business Employment, Compensation, Hours Worked All Up in September 2011

A SUNNY SPOT FOR SMALL BUSINESS INDEPENDENT BUSINESS INDICATORS LOOKING UP There's good news on the small business front. After several months of less-than-hopeful jobs reports and economic forecasts, small businesses were looking up in September. Employment, compensation, and hours worked have all grown since August. We take a closer look. ENGINE FOR EMPLOYMENT Employment in small businesses is up. More than 50,000 jobs were added since August, with growth in nearly all regions across the country. INTUIT SMALL BUSINESS EMPLOYMENT INDEX O National Employment Index O Intuit Small Business Employment Index 102.5 100 97.5 95 92.5 90 87.5 JAN 07 JAN 08 JAN 09 JAN 10 JAN 11 MONTHLY CHANGE IN SMALL BUSINESS EMPLOYMENT NEW JOBS SINCE AUGUST +0.3% 55,000 ONLY TWO STATES WITH SMALL BUSINESS EMPLOYMENT DOWN SLIGHTLY NEW JOBS SINCE RECOVERY BEGAN IN OCTOBER 2009 720,000 OREGON AND NEW YORK (-0.18% and -0.01%, respectively) GETTIN' PAID In good news for employees, compensation is also up. Average compensation for hourly small business employees has grown since August. SMALL BUSINESS EMPLOYEE MONTHLY COMPENSATION $2,700 $2,600 $2,500 $2,400 $2,300 JAN 07 JAN 08 JAN 09 JAN 10 JAN 11 COMPARED TO AVERAGE COMPENSATION IN AUGUST AVERAGE MONTHLY COMPENSATION EQUIVALENT ANNUAL WAGES +0.3% $2,694 $32,300 WEEKLY GRIND Employee work hours were up in September. This is a good sign for many hourly small business employees, whose hours were reduced to avoid layoffs in the recession. SMALL BUSINESS EMPLOYEE MONTHLY HOURS WORKED 111 109 107 105 103 101 JAN 07 JAN 08 JAN 09 JAN 10 JAN 11 COMPARED TO AVERAGE HOURS WORKED IN AUGUST AVERAGE MONTHLY HOURS WORKED +0.3% 110.4 HR (FOR HOURLY EMPLOYEES) AVERAGE HOURS WORKED PER WEEK ONLY STATE WITH SLIGHTLY FEWER HOURS WORKED (-0.05%) | 25.5 HR VIRGINIA SOURCE: INTUIT SMALL BUSINESS EMPLOYMENT INDEX The Index is based on figures from small businesses with fewer than 20 employees that use Intuit Online Payroll, http:/lonline.payroll.intuit.com