U.S. Small Business Employment Holds Steady Through First Half of 2025
July 01, 2025

Hourly earnings growth continues to trend below three percent in June
The small business labor market has remained stable with minimal changes observed through the first half of 2025, according to the Paychex Small Business Employment Watch. The pace of job growth in U.S. businesses with fewer than 50 employees has fluctuated less than half a percentage point over the last six months, reporting a 99.65 index level for June. At the same time, hourly earnings growth for small business workers continued to trend below three percent at 2.79%.
Read the full news release on the Small Business Employment Watch site.