Borrowing by small U.S. businesses jumped in November to the highest level in more than two years, PayNet reported on Monday, as entrepreneurs invested in their businesses and did a better job of paying existing debts. Get the full story »
Inside these posts: Small business hiring
Visit our Filed page for categories. To browse by specific topic, see our Inside page. For a list of companies covered on this site, visit our Companies page.
Private employers add jobs, manufacturing grows
U.S. private sector payrolls rose by the biggest amount in three years in November, lifting optimism about the job market ahead of Friday’s key employment report, while manufacturing data showed growth was intact.
U.S. private employers added a stronger-than-forecast 93,000 jobs in November, the biggest rise since November 2007, after an upwardly revised gain of 82,000 the month before, data by ADP Employer Services, which jointly developed the report with Macroeconomic Advisers LLC, showed Wednesday. Get the full story »
Index shows smallest businesses add jobs
Some of the nation’s smallest businesses continue to add jobs this month, though Illinois’ tally was flat, according to an index released this morning.
Small business employment grew by 0.24 percent in November, or about 49,000 new jobs, according to the report by Intuit Inc., which uses data from 59,000 employers with fewer than 20 employees each. This monthly rate would produce annual growth of 3 percent. Get the full story »
Nov. 18, 2010 at 11:11 a.m.
Comments Off
Filed under: Economy, Jobs/employment, Layoffs, Manufacturing, Policy, Politics, Updated U.S. factory, job data show some economic strength
In this Sept. 20, 2010 photograph, people attend a job fair at a hotel in Boston. (AP Photo/Stephan Savoia)
New U.S. claims for jobless benefits barely rose last week and manufacturing activity in the country’s Mid-Atlantic region touched a near one-year high in November, more proof the economy was regaining momentum.
The improving economic picture also was enhanced by another report on Thursday showing a gauge of future activity increased 0.5 percent in October.
However, the data are not robust enough to deter the Federal Reserve from fully implementing its much criticized program to purchase $600 billion worth of government debt to push already low interest rates down to stimulate the economy. Get the full story »
Daley’s budget calls for scaling back the head tax
Chicago employers would see modest tax relief under Mayor Richard Daley’s proposed 2011 budget plan, which calls for scaling back of the payroll head tax.
Employers now are required to pay $4 a month for every employee who earns at least $900 per quarter. Under Daley’s proposal, the tax would apply only for employees earning at least $4,300 per quarter, the amount a full-time minimum-wage worker would earn. Get the full story »
Oct. 11, 2010 at 4:34 p.m.
Comments Off
Filed under: Economy, Jobs/employment, Real estate, Small business Nobel winner Mortensen chides ‘dysfunctional’ lenders
A U.S. labor economist awarded the Nobel Prize in economics on Monday said a “dysfunctional” lending environment has made it hard for small service businesses — the source of most jobs — to finance hiring.
Northwestern University professor Dale Mortensen, whose work focused on labor market inefficiencies that make it difficult for workers to match up to job openings, said employers have fewer jobs to offer and government can do only so much about it.
“To bring unemployment down we need to create service jobs,” Mortensen said, speaking to reporters from Aarhus University in Denmark, where he is a visiting faculty member. Get the full story »
Illinois employment could improve later this year
Employment in Illinois may accelerate in the last quarter of the year, according to one survey by a California-based staffing firm.
A report released Thursday by Robert Half International said a net 12 percent of Illinois executives expect to hire more employees in the fourth quarter, an increase of 11 percentage points over sentiment measured in the third quarter. The company’s survey showed 19 percent of executives planned to staff up, while 7 percent were expecting to cut staff. Subtracting the 7 percent from the 19 percent generated the net 12 percent figure.
The Illinois figure reflects rosier sentiment in the state than nationally. Robert Half’s broad survey indicated that a net 6 percent of executives plan to increase hiring in the fourth quarter, up three percentage points from the third quarter. Get the full story »
Employment growth slows in small businesses
Hiring slowed last month among small businesses with fewer than 20 employees, according to a monthly report by Intuit Online Payroll, a small business payroll provider.
The monthly index — culled from payroll data from approximately 62,000 small businesses — found that employment among small businesses rose about .1 percent in Illinois and 0.2 percent nationwide. Approximately 40,000 new jobs were added in July nationwide, a decrease from 45,000 jobs added in June, Intuit said. Get the full story »
