The CBIZ Small Business Employment Index (SBEI), which tracks hiring trends among thousands of companies with 300 or fewer employees across the U.S., kicked off 2020 with a seasonally adjusted increase in hiring of 1.61% for January. This is a notable improvement over the 1.16% decline in December. It is also a remarkable number for January, as companies tend to contract their labor forces due to the end of the holiday shopping season.

Overall in January 2020, the CBIZ SBEI reported that 50% of companies did not deviate from their employment tally, while 23% built up their staffing and 27% decreased their staffing. As for industries, Insurance, Information and Real Estate boosted hiring. On the other side of the scale, Arts and Entertainment, Financial Services, Wholesale Distribution and Retail Trade ebbed hiring.

Regionally, the West continued to lead hiring in January, although all regions saw an increase.

Phil Noftsinger is Executive Vice President, CBIZ Inc.

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