Wages rose for the 12th consecutive month for small-business workers in the US, according to the Small Business Employment Watch report released by Paychex.
Average hourly earnings rose 5.19% to $30.31 year over year. Meanwhile, following a nearly eight-year high in April, small-business job growth was down in May, according to the report. The Small Business Jobs Index, which measures the year-over-year rate of employment growth, decreased 0.27% from the previous month to an index level of 100.87.
“Despite the one-month change, job growth at US small businesses remains strong even in the face of the tight labor market and inflation pressures,” said Paychex CEO Martin Mucci.
Other key findings:
- At $30.31, hourly earnings have increased by $1.50 during the past year.
- The South continued to lead as the top region in hourly wage growth at 5.46%. It was followed by the West at 5.36%, and the Midwest at 5.30%.
- At 6.22%, North Carolina led the other states in hourly wage growth, followed by Arizona, Ohio and Florida.
- Texas led weekly growth among states in both earnings and hours worked, up 5.53% and 0.23%, respectively. Additionally, it is the only state with positive weekly hours worked growth in May, while Dallas continued as the top metro with hourly wage growth of 6.74%.
- Among seven major industrial sectors, leisure and hospitality led the way in terms of hourly wage growth at 8.66%, more than two percentage points higher than the next-best sector.
The Paychex report draws payroll data of approximately 350,000 clients with fewer than 50 employees. It offers analysis of national employment and wage trends and examines regional, state, metro and industry sector activity.