Release Details

-Index Swings to a Positive on the Back of Seasonal Hiring-

CLEVELAND--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 6, 2013-- The CBIZ Small Business Employment Index (SBEI), a barometer for hiring trends that surveys data from 3,500 companies with 300 or fewer employees, increased by .52 percent during November following a decrease of .42 percent during October.

Wednesday’s ADP’s November survey revealed that the private sector added 215,000 jobs during the month, which is the strongest job growth reported this year. In addition, October’s revised tally is 184,000 jobs created, after 130,000 new jobs were reported initially.

“Approaching the holiday shopping season with optimism, we know that retailers spent the month stocking shelves. A small increase in the SBEI seems to indicate that, by and large, smaller retail shops performed those tasks with only minimal hiring. Although the reading was less than what we had hoped for, it was better than three of the last four November reports,” shares Philip Noftsinger, business unit president for CBIZ Payroll Services. “There are mixed economic signals in the numbers right now, but most retailers seemed to be optimistic about this holiday season,” he continues.

To view and/or use a graphic illustration that tracks and illustrates the employment index, visit our blog here.¹

Additional take-away points from the November data set include:

• At-a-glance: Payroll stability was the predominant theme as 54 percent of the companies in the index had no change in staffing, while 24.1 percent added staff during the month. 22.1 percent cut payrolls in November, compared to 20 percent in November 2012.
• Small business sector: The NFIB report continues to show a lack of (and even an erosion of) optimism among small business owners and consumer confidence has been on a two month slide.
• What to watch: It will take a little longer for the dust to settle and the real results to show, however, expect retail operators to extend their price breaks in an effort to recapture revenue that may or may not have been left on the table since “Black Friday.”

“There is real evidence that the uptick in hiring is directly correlated to a more aggressive retail shopping season, with brick-and-mortar stores seeing 2.3 percent more traffic – per a report by ShopperTrak – and therefore likely requiring more staff to meet the surge. While the long-term ‘stickiness’ of these jobs is up for debate, the hiring patterns for this time of year are consistent or better than many of the recent Novembers,” adds Noftsinger.

CBIZ Payroll Services manages payroll services for more than 3,500 businesses. Its index reflects a broad array of industries and geographies corresponding to the markets across the United States where 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.

Editor’s note:

(1) The SBEI illustration is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License. Based on a work at http://blog.cbiz.com.

About CBIZ, Inc.

CBIZ, Inc. provides professional business services that help clients better manage their finances and employees. CBIZ provides its clients with financial services including accounting, tax, financial advisory, government health care consulting, risk advisory, merger and acquisition advisory, real estate consulting, and valuation services. Employee services include employee benefits consulting, property and casualty insurance, retirement plan consulting, payroll, life insurance, HR consulting, and executive recruitment. As one of the nation’s largest brokers of employee benefits and property and casualty insurance, and one of the largest accounting and valuation companies in the United States, the Company’s services are provided through nearly 100 Company offices in 32 states.

Source: CBIZ, Inc.

Gregory FCA for CBIZ, Inc.
Jimmy Moock
Phone: 610-228-2125
Cell: 610-348-7849
Email: jimmy@gregoryfca.com