Survey: Small Business Hiring, Hours, Fall in May

According to a recent survey, the hiring front for small businesses stalled in May, and hours for current employees decreased.

Intuit Inc., a payrolls processing firm, reported in its latest monthly Small Business Employment and Revenue Indexes that hiring slowed in May, with small businesses adding 40,000 new jobs, compared with 60,000 in April. The firm’s April survey initially reported 40,000 jobs added before revising to 60,000.

Businesses also reduced hours for those currently on their payrolls,Intuit reported. The average workweek fell by 0.13% in May, or an average monthly decline of $4 to $2,688 from April’s $2,692. Hourly employees worked an average of 106.4 hours in May, falling by around 42 minutes.

Intuit’s survey is drawn on aggregated data from 170,000 small businesses that use the firm’s QuickBooks Online program.

Payroll firm ADP’s jobs data is released Thursday, followed by the Department of Labor’s jobs report on Friday.