Hourly earnings growth for workers ticks up in September, but remains below three percent

According to the Paychex Small Business Employment Watch for September, job growth among U.S. small businesses with fewer than 50 employees remains largely unchanged over the last year. The Small Business Jobs Index, a primary component of the Paychex report that measures the pace of job growth using payroll data from the company’s small business customers, has fluctuated just over a half percentage point over the last 12 months.

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According to Paychex data, job growth among U.S. small businesses has fluctuated just over a half percentage point over the last 12 months.

Meanwhile, hourly earnings growth for U.S. small business workers also remains largely consistent and – at 2.68% in September – is below three percent for the 11th consecutive month.

“Our latest small business employment data once again indicates a steady labor market over the past year,” said John Gibson, Paychex president and CEO. “This consistency reflects continued resilience from small businesses across the U.S. While we’re observing little change in our national data, the Midwest continues to stand out and is the only region consistently delivering job growth over the past year and beyond.”

Jobs Index and Wage Data Highlights

• The national Small Business Jobs Index in September was 99.52 – 0.31 percentage points below August.
• Although remaining below three percent, national hourly earnings growth rose 0.05 percentage points from August to 2.68% in September, marking its first increase since October 2024.
• The Midwest has led regions for small business employment growth for the past 16 months, including a 100.02 jobs index for September. Bolstering the region, Ohio (100.87) and Indiana (100.64) are the only states to report year-over-year job gains in September. Ohio has been among the top two states for small business employment growth for the past six months.
• September marks the 16th consecutive month for Education and Health Services (101.06) as the top sector for small business job growth. Following Education and Health Services, Financial Activities (100.10) is the only other sector reporting year-over-year job gains in September.

More Information

For more information about the Paychex Small Business Employment Watch, visit the website and sign up to receive monthly Employment Watch alerts.

About the Paychex Small Business Employment Watch

The Paychex Small Business Employment Watch is released each month by Paychex, Inc. Focused exclusively on businesses with fewer than 50 workers, the monthly report offers analysis of national employment and wage trends and examines regional, state, metro, and industry sector* activity. Drawing from the payroll data of approximately 350,000 Paychex clients, this powerful industry benchmark delivers real-time insights into the small business trends driving the U.S. economy. The jobs index is scaled to 100, which represents no year-over-year change in job growth among same store businesses. Index values above 100 represent new jobs being added, while values below 100 represent jobs being lost.

*Information regarding the professions included in the industry data can be found at the Bureau of Labor Statistics website.

About Paychex

Paychex, Inc. (Nasdaq: PAYX) is the digitally driven HR leader that is reimagining how companies address the needs of today’s workforce with the most comprehensive, flexible, and innovative HCM solutions for organizations of all sizes. Offering a full spectrum of HR advisory and employee solutions, Paychex pays 1 out of every 11 American private sector workers and is raising the bar in HCM for approximately 800,000 customers in the U.S. and Europe. Every member of the Paychex team is committed to fulfilling the company’s purpose of helping businesses succeed. Visit paychex.com to learn more. Visit paychex.com to learn more.

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