The CBIZ Small Business Employment Index reported a positive development in February, with a seasonally adjusted increase of 0.17%. Despite high interest rates, the U.S. economy remains strong and small businesses are able to steadily expand their workforce.
Small businesses often face challenges in retaining workers due to their limited ability to offer higher salaries or additional benefits like health insurance. The CBIZ index monitors hiring trends among thousands of companies with 300 or fewer employees nationwide.
Anna Rathbun, chief investment officer of CBIZ, commented on the unexpected strength of the U.S. economy in the current high interest rate environment, and how this has enabled small businesses to hire more workers during February. In fact, 20% of companies in the index increased their staff while 60% maintained their current headcounts and 20% decreased their staff numbers during the same period.
Certain industries have seen better hiring results than others, with sectors such as administrative and support services, arts, entertainment and recreation, as well as technology and life sciences reporting gains, while industries like accommodation and food services, insurance, and utilities experienced decreases. Regionally, the West, Southeast, and Central regions saw slight increases in hiring while the Northeast region saw a slight decline in employment growth.
These trends are reflective of the broader market as U.S employers added 275