Hiring is Down and Paychecks are Up, According to New SurePayroll Small Business Scorecard

Hiring is down 1.6 percent from last year, according to the results of SurePayroll’s latest Small Business Scorecard. The monthly survey tracks trends among small businesses in the U.S.

The survey found that hiring was down 0.2 percent from last month, while paychecks increased 0.1 percent from the previous month. Despite seeing a monthly increase, paychecks were still down 1.2 percent from last year. Optimism among small business owners also fell to 60 percent for June; last month it was 64 percent.

“While optimism remains relatively high, small business owners seem somewhat reluctant to hire right now because of some dark clouds on the horizon,” said SurePayroll CEO and President Michael Alter. “Existing employees are producing more and working longer hours. It’s impressive that small businesses have done more with less, but the economic climate has made it difficult to have job growth.”