Jobs Report: Small Businesses See Biggest Gains In Two Years

Small business employment in March rose 0.3 percent, the highest single-month growth rate in over two years, according to the latest Intuit Small Business Employment Index.

In addition to employment, average monthly hours worked increased by 0.5 percent, or 36 minutes and monthly compensation rose by 0.7 percent or $18 per worker.

The 0.3 percent employment growth equals about 65,000 jobs created by employers with fewer than 20 employees.

In March, workers clocked in an average of 111.9 hours, which equals just over a 25-hour work week, which is a 0.5 increase over February. Monthly pay rose 0.7 percent to $2,767 in March, equating to an annual income of over $33,000.

According to the survey, New York is finally seeing an upward trend in employment after months of negative figures, while the Mountain U.S. Census division, at 0.6 percent, showed the highest employment growth rate.