“While the May growth in employment is not as strong as last month, it’s still going up,” said Dr. Susan Woodward, the nationally-recognized economist who worked with Intuit to create the index. “Despite the slower growth rate and slight decline in hours worked, the recovery is still unambiguous in the Intuit data: employment and compensation per worker continue to show that a recovery is underway. The new hire rate continues to rise slightly, as does the hourly rate of pay.”
Intuit confirmed these findings.
“We continue to see modest growth for small business employment,” added Cameron Schmidt, vice president of Intuit’s Employee Management Solutions division. “While signs of a recovery have slowed slightly this month, the data overall still continues to show an upward trend.”
Compensation Increases and Hours Worked Declines
The data also shows an increase in compensation per worker, which continues to show signs that a recovery is underway. Compensation grew by 0.3 percent in May and is now $2,566 per month, compared to a revised estimate of $2,559 per month in April.
Monthly hours worked declined by 0.1 percent in May to 101.6 hours compared to a revised estimate of 101.7 hours in April. This translates to wages of about $30,800 per year for all employees and a 23.5-hour week for hourly employees.
“Hours worked for hourly employees dropped slightly this month after rising a little last month, but the drop was enough to pull the trend down,” Woodward said. “The good news though is that hours per worker are falling at a slower rate.”
