Paychex Saw Small Business Job Growth Slow in October

Small businesses continued to hire more workers last month, but the pace of job growth is slackening, according to a new report.

The Paychex | IHS Small Business Jobs Index, from the payroll giant Paychex and the research firm IHS, declined a bit in October, moving from 100.44 to 100.34. Although small business employment remains in positive territory, with an index level above 100, the national index has fallen 0.31 percent in the last quarter and 0.49 percent over the past year.

“We see a little bit of a decrease for October,” said Paychex president CEO Martin Mucci. “There is still employment growth, but the growth is down a bit from last year.”

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The Mountain region was again the top-performing region in the country on the index, reaching 101.64 in October. New England was the only region to show a positive one-month and 12-month growth rate, propelled by the Boston metro area and Massachusetts. With the lowest 12-month growth rate (-2.12 percent), the rate of employment growth has declined seven consecutive months in the West North Central. The West North Central, along with the Middle Atlantic, are the only regions with an index below 100. Down 0.56 percent, the East South Central region had the lowest one-month growth rate among regions, as its index fell to a three-year low.