From one Colorado small business to our clients, many of whom are small businesses, we thought you may be interested in the small business outlook lately. Employment by Colorado small businesses rose in August at a modest 0.06% over July. The gain in small-business employment in Colorado followed July’s net 0.02 % rise, no change in June, gains of 0.06 % in May, 0.12 % in April and 0.09 % in March.
Not only was this the greatest monthly gain in Colorado since May 2013, this greatly outshone the national small business employment index, which declined by 0.01% from July 2013 to August 2013.
This data is tracked monthly by Intuit and is designed to provide statistically sound insight into small business trends and behavior. The information is gathered anonymously from over 200,000 businesses with 20 (or fewer) workers nationwide.
As for neighbor states tracked by Intuit’s report, Arizona, Utah and Kansas saw small net gains in small-business employment in August while New Mexico and Oklahoma posted declines. Data was insufficient to track losses or gains for Wyoming.
Small business optimism is at the heart of these slight increases in small business employment. According to the Index of Small Business Optimism, worries over looming compliance with the Affordable Care Act (i.e. Obamacare) and inaction by the 2013 legislative session did nothing ease the concerns of many Colorado small business owners in regards to regulatory reform, tax policy and employment law reform. Many feel that a new level of partisanship as well as the looming crisis in Syria and the still-unresolved budget issues will do nothing to change the outlook of small-business owners who have had the same list of concerns since the beginning of the year.
Salaries and Hours Worked
The Intuit report reported that workers, at small businesses nationwide, were paid an average of $2,751 last month, up 0.4 % from the adjusted level of the previous month. And monthly time worked averaged 111.2 hours, up 0.6 %.
Salary and hours worked data is not broken down to the state level.
Uncertainty remains. Flexibility in your workforce management solution is key. With decades of experience serving Colorado small business owners, we treat you with integrity and respect and provide you with the personalized attention you deserve.
Through our four networked offices in Colorado, we can provide you with a staffing solution that meets the specific needs of your unique situation. So leverage us as an extension of your HR department, so you can focus on what is profitable…running your business. If you are looking for staffing agencies in Colorado, contact us today.