Small Businesses Lost 75,000 Jobs in January

Small businesses lost 75,000 jobs in January.

That’s according to ADPs National Employment report, issued in collaboration with the Stanford Digital Research Lab.

The negative report follows December’s update, which had small businesses gaining 195,000 jobs.

Nationally, with statistics including small, medium and large businesses, overall job gain was 106,000 in January.

Small Business Job Losses in January

The 75,000 jobs lost for small businesses break down like this, with 70,000 of those jobs lost for businesses with 1-19 employees and 5,000 lost for businesses with 20-49 employees.

In December, when small businesses gained 195,000 jobs, the gains were greatest in businesses with 20-49 employees (130,000). Businesses with 1-19 employees gained 65,000.

Taken over the two-month period, small businesses have gained 120,000 jobs. Over two months, businesses with 1-19 employees have gained 60,000 and businesses with 20-49 employees have gained 60,000 jobs.

Median Annual Pay Rate Increases

The job loss could be connected to the changes in the median annual pay rate. Nationally, medium and large firms saw a 7.6/7.7% increase in the median annual pay rate.

Small businesses with 20-49 employees saw a 7% annual pay increase. But very small businesses, with 1-19 employees, saw a 5.5% pay increase.

The National Snapshot

According to ADP Chief Economist Nela Richardson, job growth was soft during January due to extremes in weather conditions, including floods in California and winter storms in the central and eastern parts of the US.

In fact, job changes regionally decreased in the Midwest, where the job losses were 40,000. The job gains were largest in the southern US (55,000), followed by gains in the northeast (42,000) and western US (27,000).

By Industry

The largest job gains were in services, with 109,000 gained, while goods and services lost 3,000 jobs.

Here’s the breakdown of gains: Leisure and hospitality led the way with an increase of 95,000 jobs. Increases in jobs were also seen in financial activities businesses (30,000), manufacturing (23,000), education and health services (12,000) and professional and business services (8,000).

Job losses were seen in trade, transportation and utilities, which saw a 41,000 decrease in jobs. Jobs were also lost in construction, with 24,000 jobs lost.

By Size of Business

As stated, small businesses saw the largest number of jobs lost.

Medium businesses with 50-249 employees gained 99,000 jobs, while medium businesses with 250-499 employees lost 35,000 jobs.

Large businesses with more than 500 employees gained 128,000 jobs.

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