Private sector companies employed 250,000 new people in the past month, overwhelmingly exceeding expectations of economists who predicted 190,000 new employees, according to recent ADP and Moody’s Analytics reports. This data was just released in the CBIZ Small Business Employment Index (SBEI), which tracks hiring trends among thousands of U.S. companies with 300 or fewer employees. The Index showed a month-by-month increase in hiring activity of 1.55% in December 2017, which is a substantial increase over the 0.44 % reported for November 2017.
“This report marked the strongest reading since June 2017,” stated Philip Noftsinger, President of CBIZ Employee Services Organization, “While the holiday shopping season contributed to increased economic activity and the need for more employees, this particular December hiring report was well above the average hiring surge historically seen during this time period.”
The December SBEI also noted the following:
- In the December versus November 2017 reading of the SBEI, 30% of companies increased head-counts, 50% had no change in staff totals, and 20% reduced staff size.
- During December growth occurred in a wide range of industries, specifically Finance and Insurance, Real Estate, Retail, Accommodation and Food-services, Manufacturing, Nonprofits, Technology, Wholesale, Education and Healthcare. Arts and Entertainment was the only category that declined.
- The strongest hiring gains of December were in the Southeast, with a 2.31% growth, followed by the Central region with a 1.85% increase in head-counts. Other regions experienced nominal positive growth.
The report indicated that pending tax reform “weighed heavily on small business owners’ minds”, influencing business decision making. The subsequent passing of tax reform suggests an impact on business hiring decisions in the coming year.
The CBiz SBEI, derived from CBIZ Payroll Services provides payroll services for more than 4,000 businesses. Its index captures a broad array of industries and geographies corresponding to the markets across the U.S.in the markets that CBIZ provides human capital services. The data represented by the SBEI is derived from a segment of employers not completely accounted for by the ADP and Federal BLS employment reports.
