Paychex, Inc., a leading provider of payroll, HR, and benefits outsourcing solutions for small to medium-sized businesses, issued its fourth consecutive monthly report of the -Paychex IHS Small Business Jobs Index.- In partnership with IHS, Paychex launched the Index report in April at the NASDAQ exchange and has steadily provided U.S. small business information and statistics since its debut.
In this months report, the U.S. Mountain Range once again takes the leadership position in small business employment gains this month, according to the index.The region had a 1.77% increase in year-over-year gains for June, making it the best trending region for the fourth month in a row since March.Mountain Range states that can take credit for this rise include Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Arizona, and New Mexico.
In contrast, the title of -Worst Performing- region goes to the Middle Atlantic for the second time in a row, with a decrease in year-over-year gains by 0.39%.The Middle Atlantic region includes New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania.
However, the success of a region does not necessarily correlate with individual states statistics. Washington, part of the U.S. Pacific Region, had the highest Small Business Job Index this month with 103.24, while the highest Small Business Job Index by metro area goes to Dallas, TX which is part of West South Central U.S.
Furthermore, Indiana, part of East North Central U.S., demonstrated consistent progress this month, increasing its growth rate by 1.02% and climbing up 7 spots to claim the number 3 position in the Small Business Job Index with 102.54, compared to 101.5 just one month ago.
The national index,however, has dropped an overall 0.08% in between May and June.However, despite this decline, the Small Business Index has stayed above 101 for the sixth consecutive month.An average index of 101.13 for 2014 in its first six months reads much more positively than that 100.71 for the last six months of 2013.
James Diffley, Chief Regional Economist of IHS, remains hopeful of the overall upward trend of the U.S. small business economy, saying, -Though the pace of gains remains moderate,the Paychex | IHS Small Business Jobs Index shows that payroll conditions have clearly improved this year for the country’s small businesses.-
