Recent Updates
- US: Consumer Sentiment (May-final), Personal Income, Adv Trade & Inventories (Apr)
- China: Public Funds Asset Mgmt, SOE Economy Operation (Apr), Star Rated Hotels (Q1)
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Economy in Brief
U.S. Advance Trade Deficit Narrowed Markedly in April
The advance estimate of the U.S. international trade deficit in goods narrowed to $105.9 billion in April...
As Inflation Overshoots, Are Central Banks Overdoing It?
This report is a reminder of how complicated inflation and monetary policy making can be...
U.S. GDP Decline is Little-Revised in Q1'22; Corporate Profits Fall
U.S. real GDP fell 1.5%, SAAR (+3.5% y/y) last quarter...
Kansas City Fed Manufacturing Index Dips in May But Remains Strong
The Kansas City Fed reported that its manufacturing sector business activity index declined to 23 in May...
U.S. Pending Home Sales Decline Sharply in April
Home buying remains under pressure...
Viewpoints
Commentaries are the opinions of the author and do not reflect the views of Haver Analytics.
by Tom Moeller January 30, 2012
Intuit compiles data covering small business employment and 2012
started with a weak gain. For January, its employment index rose 0.2%
to 96.14. The index has been rising for just over two years but this
month's gain was the weakest since November 2010. Regardless, the index
was up 4.1% y/y and built on its 3.3% increase in 2011 and 0.1% in 2010.
Intuit also surveys average monthly compensation and it has been fairly weak. A 0.1% January slip was the seventh in as many months. In addition, the 0.3% y/y gain was its weakest since the change became available in 2008. Also, small business hours worked have gone nowhere. A negligible January slip was the eighth month down in a row and they're off 0.4% y/y.
The Intuit Small Business Employment Index is based on anonymous online employment data from small business employers (each with fewer than 20 employees) that use Intuit Online Payroll. These smallest employers comprise about 88 percent of the total U.S. private employer base and employ nearly 20 million people. The Index reflects monthly employment activity in small businesses, and is adjusted to account for changes in Intuit's Online Payroll customers from one month to the next.
The Intuit figures are available in Haver's USECON database.
Intuit Small Business Employment Index | Jan | Dec | Nov | Y/Y | 2011 | 2010 | 2009 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Employment Index (Jan. 2007 = 100) | 96.14 | 95.91 | 95.63 | 4.1% | 3.3% | 0.1% | -6.2% |
Average Monthly Compensation ($) | 2,632.14 | 2,634.63 | 2,637.62 | 0.3 | 1.4 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
Average Monthly Hours Worked Index | 107.54 | 107.59 | 107.74 | -0.4 | 1.7 | 2.3 | -0.9 |