Small Business Hiring Hits Highest Level In A Year

(Reuters) - Small businesses created the most jobs in March in about a year, a survey showed on Thursday, bolstering expectations of a fourth straight month of solid gains in nonfarm employment.

The National Federation of Independent Business said its survey of 757 small businesses found that the average number of workers per firm increased by 0.2 workers - the highest since January and February 2011 - after being flat in February.

The survey was published ahead of the release of the government's more comprehensive nonfarm payroll count on Friday. Nonfarm employment likely increased 203,000 in March, according to a Reuters poll, after rising 227,000 in February.

That would mark the longest stretch of payrolls increases topping 200,000 since 1999. The unemployment rate is seen holding at a three-year low of 8.3 percent.

"Overall, the March survey anticipates some strength in the job creation number with little change in the unemployment rate," said the NFIB in a statement.

However, prospects for the labor market dimmed somewhat, with 15 percent of respondents reporting unfilled job openings last month, down two points from February.

The share of businesses planning to add new workers fell for a fourth straight month.

(Reporting By Lucia Mutikani)

Copyright 2012 Thomson Reuters. Click for Restrictions.

Comments

[jakegides]

09:50 PM on 04/10/2012

Whats a small business?

[duey35]

07:48 PM on 04/09/2012

Where can I hire a .2 worker? Are they part of the 1% or the 99%. This is just plain sad.

[sunelpru]

12:00 PM on 04/09/2012

MCDONALDS HIRED TWO NEW BURGER FRIERS.

[derealest]

10:22 AM on 04/09/2012

An increase of .2 jobs per business? Come on. To spin this as news is laughable. By the way I'm sure the current admin. will try to spin this farther.....how did they do it. was this a result of the stimulus.......two years later? Small business is beginning to stabilize in the new reality. That's all. This is the worst "recovery" on record. Spinning the numbers is dishonest. Keeping people ignorant helps with votes....The media is a willful partner in this shameful deceit.

[o0oooooo0o]

04:52 AM on 04/12/2012

*** Keeping people ignorant helps with votes....The media is a willful partner in this shameful deceit. ***

Quote of the times. No words more true have ever been spoken.

[frontrange2]

06:22 PM on 04/08/2012

Aparna Mathur, a resident scholar and economist at the American Enterprise Institute says the real rate is best represented by something called the U6 Rate.....instead of considering people who have given up looking for work as "non entities." U6 includes out of work + ALL those who have given up (not just for 4 weeks). That makes the number 14.5% unemployment, not 8,2%. Reportedly 43% of the 12.8 million officially labeled out of work fall into the category of the long-term unemployed (over27 weeks). The drop to 8.2% from 8.3% given the latest meager 120,000 new jobs is really due to those who have given up, not a healthier job picture. As the "stop looking" number goes up the math drives the unemployment number down. If the stop looking number gets high enough it will come down even with 100,000 new jobs per month even though it really needs to be in the 3 to 400,000 range to make a real dent.

[o0oooooo0o]

04:54 AM on 04/12/2012

Exactly And by election time the unemployment rate will be 5%... but no one will have a job. Funny how that works, 'eh?

[snakecharmer1340]

10:00 PM on 04/05/2012

I've had two interviews this week. The job market is definitely picking up.

[o0oooooo0o]

04:55 AM on 04/12/2012

Was that sarcasam?? If not, it might as well be.

[rwaller]

08:56 PM on 04/05/2012

I bet the republicans aren't jumping up and down over this news. I rather expect to see increased numbers of suicides as everything turns against them. I am thinking a hot line for troubled republicans should be set up.

[rich08533]

11:12 AM on 04/06/2012

The National Federation of Business is typically mom and pops. I would not get to excited over Obama yet. .02 hires per 757 businesses is quite minimal. I probably includes seasonal adjuments for summer businesses. Lawn mowing, pool cleaning, etc. Small business is fighting hard to survive and until consumer confidence comes back we are in trouble. Tax and spend politics, high gas prices and dividing the parties is not helping America.
These of course are also typically low pay jobs without benefits. You need to carefully use common sense and analyze what you read in the new......remember its biased.
Hopefully its not too late for our new president to get us back on track.

[onlyindependent]

08:27 PM on 04/06/2012

yep, that 8.2 percent unemployment is stellar, isn't it. let me guess? we would have been in a deep, deep depression were it not for the $900 million stimulus package.

[rwaller]

10:12 PM on 04/06/2012

That 8.2 UI is 3 points lower than when Bush left office. If you are incapable of doing simple math that is not my problem. Yes, we would have gone into a deep depression. We would also be much further along in recovery had the banks not screwed us all. They repayed thier TARP loans with the money they received in the stimulous package to loan to small business. They took the money and paid their TARP debts. Screwing the recovery, screwing each of us and screwing America.

[johnl68hi]

07:11 PM on 04/05/2012

Were??