Small business employment in Colorado was essentially flat in May, eking out a gain of 0.06 percent, according to the monthly . Small Business Employment and Revenue Indexes.
This compared with a month-over-month growth in Colorado of 0.12 percent in April.
The report said that nationally small business employment gained 35,000 new jobs in May, or 0.18 percent for an annualized growth rate of 2.1 percent.
The report said that the 35,000 additional jobs was the highest growth in small business since January 2012.
At the same time, compensation remained stagnant and hours worked decreased in May while small business revenues continued to drop in April.
Specifically, average monthly compensation showed no growth in May, remaining steady at the April revised number of $2,696.
Average monthly hours worked by hourly employees fell by 0.12 percent in May, which is equivalent to a decrease of six minutes from April’s figure of 106.8 hours.
“The small business economic picture remains conflicted,” said Susan Woodward, the economist who worked with Intuit to create the indexes.
“While May’s small business employment figures are the best we have seen since January 2012, small business revenues have continued to decline month over month on a per-business basis,” said Woodward.
She said that among the industries tracked, small business retail revenues have been the hardest hit the past quarter, followed by small business healthcare, which has seen the biggest revenue decline over the year.
“The silver lining continues to be the construction industry, which is the only one to see year-over-year growth on a per-business basis,” said Woodward. “The good news is the hiring rate, which has been essentially flat since mid-2009 has picked up slightly.”
Howard Pankratz: 303-954-1939, hpankratz@denverpost.com or twitter.com/howardpankratz
