GlobeNewswire·Sep 1, 2026, 8:30 AM ET

Stable Employment Levels Continue for U.S. Small Businesses in August

Paychex Small Business Employment Watch reports the U.S. small business jobs index remained stable at 99.13 in August 2026.
Weekly hours worked grew by 0.07% for the sixth consecutive month, the longest stretch since October 2020.
Hourly earnings growth held at 2.89% for the 24th straight month, while weekly earnings growth reached 3.00%.
The Midwest region led employment growth with a jobs index of 99.48, while the West saw a 0.41 percentage-point gain.
Phoenix ranked first among major U.S. metros for job growth with a 100.81 index, its seventh time leading in the past year.
Education & Health Services regained the No. 1 sector ranking for job growth with a 99.88 jobs index.
One-month annualized wage growth has been at or above 3.00% for five consecutive months.
The report covers employers with fewer than 50 employees & data is sourced from Paychex's proprietary HR dataset.