Small Business Employment Shows Slight Improvement in May, But Remains Near Historic Low

The latest Paychex | IHS Markit Small Business Employment Watch shows that employment growth improved slightly in May, up 0.25 percent, as stay-at-home orders eased in most states. Amid the economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, the jobs index has fallen 3.95 percent year-over-year, most of which (3.52 percent) occurred in the past quarter. The transition back to work also resulted in a 5.33 percent one-month annualized increase in weekly hours worked after a sharp drop in April.

Read the full news release on the Small Business Employment Watch site.