Intuit QuickBooks has announced the latest data for its Intuit QuickBooks Small Business Index, a powerful monthly indicator of employment and hiring among small businesses in the US, Canada and UK. The Index is developed in collaboration with leading global economist Professor Ufuk Akcigit of the University of Chicago.
Some of the more notable stats include:
- During March, Small US businesses, with 1-9 employees, employed 39,600 fewer people nationally compared to the previous month. That’s a monthly decrease of -0.31% to 12,773,100 jobs — a larger decrease than the Index predicted in February, when employment was predicted to drop by -0.06%.
- Regionally, the Southwest (Arizona, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas) had the largest decrease in small business employment, with a drop of -0.67% to 1,566,900 jobs. The Rocky Mountain region (Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Utah, Wyoming) had the smallest decrease, with employment down by just -0.03% to 500,700 jobs.
- Sectors with the smallest decreases in small business employment were: utilities, natural resources and mining, and retail.
Source: Adapted from Intuit QuickBooks SMB Index Content
The Intuit QuickBooks Small Business Index is unique in its unparalleled sample size (16 times the size of the BLS’ JOLTS report). The focus is on the smallest of small businesses (those with 1-9 employees in the US and UK, and 1-19 employees in Canada). These businesses are vital to the current and future health of the economy, but often are underrepresented in economic data.
Additionally, it does not just rely on survey samples, but also on anonymized QuickBooks Payroll data, which is aggregated and normalized against official government statistics before publication using proprietary economic models purpose-built by world-renowned independent global economists led by Professor Akcigit.
For context, QuickBooks is the No. 1 payroll service provider for small businesses.
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