Small business hiring sees moderate increase in October

According to the latest Intuit Small Business Employment Index, the small enterprise labor market saw the creation of 30,000 new jobs in October. However, modest decreases were observed in both work hours and compensation, which fell by 0.2 percent and 0.06 percent, respectively. This translates to an average of 106.3 hours of work - the equivalent of a 24.5-hour work week - and $2,622 average monthly pay.

"While small business employment is up in October, it is not up by much," noted economist Susan Woodward, who partnered with Intuit on the Index's creation. "On the positive side, we do see an increase in the new hire rate and hourly wages for the approximately 65 percent of small business employees who are hourly."

The greatest gain (0.16 percent) was in New England. Increases were seen in all regions of the country apart from the East South Central area, where figures remained unchanged.

According to Infogroup's latest quarterly Small Business Marketing Outlook Survey, 61 percent of entrepreneurs expect their sales and revenue to grow in the next 12 months. This could result in a hiring uptick.