US small business wage growth highest since 2011
Hourly earnings growth in the United States is at its highest level since 2011, says the latest Paychex | IHS Markit Small Business Employment Watch report.
The reason: a tight labor market.
Hourly earnings, says the report, grew 3.11 percent among small business employees. This is the highest-level growth since reporting started in 2011.
Weekly earnings also kept on growing, accelerating 3.75 percent in the month of November.
Weekly hours worked were also the most since May 2015, being up 0.76 percent.
The national jobs index, which remained fundamentally unmoved from the preceding month, moderated 0.03 percent. It continued to trend above 98. The index, being up 0.10 percent during the past quarter, had a positive three-month development rate for the first time since March 2017.
IHS Markit chief regional economist James Diffley said, “Wage increases are finally beginning to reflect the tight labor market for small businesses.”
Paychex president and CEO Martin Mucci stated, “Employers are responding to the challenges of the tight labor market. We’ve seen a steady climb in hourly earnings growth, now reaching the highest levels in nearly a decade.”
The small business wage report further shows that at 98.93, the South kept on leading regional small business employment development, while the West, with 3.67 percent, continued leading among regions in wage growth.
The leader among states with respect to small business job growth remained the state of Tennessee, while the New York state topped the list of states for wage increases.
Dallas once again led the list of top metros for small business job growth. In hourly earnings growth, three California metros – San Diego, San Francisco and Los Angeles – led the United States.
In hourly wages growth, the sectors leading are hospitality and leisure.
The small business wage report is released each month by London, UK-based global information provider IHS Markit and American small-to-medium-sized business payroll, human resource and benefits outsourcing services provider Paychex.
The complete results for November, including interactive charts that detail all data at an industry, regional, national, metro and state level can be accessed at Paychex’s website, here.
A press release announcing the results is available here.
Image via press release
