Eight months out of last year saw the nation’s small businesses trim their payrolls, according to year-end figures released Wednesday by SurePayroll, an Illinois-based company that prepares payroll for small- and medium-sized businesses.
Small businesses decreased employee headcount by 0.2 percent in 2006. In 2005, small businesses increased payrolls by 0.3 percent; in 2004 for increase was 4.4 percent, SurePayroll says.
December 2006 showed an increase from the previous month, marking only the fourth month in 2006 in which there was increased hiring by small businesses, the company says.
Small business salaries increased by 7.4 percent in 2006. Salaries rose in every single month of 2006.
Small business salaries decreased by 0.5 percent in 2005. In 2004, small business salaries dropped 4.8 percent on average, according to the records processed by SurePayroll.
On a regional basis, the average small business size dropped in the Midwest, Northeast and South in 2006.
In terms of small business growth, the West was the only regional success story in 2006. Hiring there was up 1.4 percent year over year. The Northeast had the steepest regional decline in 2006 — down 6.2 percent.
On the 2006 salary front, average small business paychecks rose in all four regions: in the Midwest (up 4.7 percent), Northeast (up 12.3 percent), South (up 7.5 percent) and West (up 17.3 percent).
SurePayroll says its figures are generated from actual payroll data — paychecks issued to contractors and employees — for over 18,000 small businesses nationwide.
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