Small Businesses Expanding Hiring Practices Despite Economic Challenges, According to CBIZ Small Business Employment Index

Amidst the economic challenges, small businesses are experiencing some relief in their hiring practices. The latest data from CBIZ Small Business Employment Index shows a 0.17% seasonally adjusted increase in February, indicating that small businesses are expanding their workforce despite the high interest rates.

One of the challenges that small businesses face in hiring and retaining employees is their inability to offer competitive salaries or benefits such as health insurance. However, the CBIZ index monitors hiring trends among thousands of companies with 300 or fewer employees across the country, providing insight into the state of small business employment.

According to Anna Rathbun, chief investment officer of CBIZ, the unexpected strength of the US economy is reflected in the steady growth of small business hiring. In February, 20% of companies in the index increased their staff while 60% maintained their current headcounts and 20% reduced staff numbers.

Different industries are experiencing varying levels of hiring activity, with sectors like administrative and support services, arts, entertainment, and technology and life sciences seeing gains while industries such as accommodation and food services, insurance, and utilities reported decreases in hiring.

Regionally, there is slight variation in hiring trends across different regions. The West, Southeast and Central regions saw slight increases while Northeast experienced a slight decline which reflects diverse economic landscape across country.

The positive hiring trend among small businesses mirrors broader market as U.S employers added 275