by Calculated Risk on 1/06/2011 07:29:00 PM

From National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB): Small Business Hiring Stagnant in December; Likely to Improve in 2011

“Reports of net job creation continued to oscillate around the “0” line in December. Asked about changes in total employment over the last three months, 13 percent of owners reported increasing employment at their firms by an average of 3.5 workers while 14 percent reported (down two points from November) reducing total employment an average of 2.9 workers per firm. Clearly, December showed no surge in small business hiring. ... Still, the percentage of owners reporting higher employment levels is the second highest reading since December 2007...

“The good news is that the two job creation indicators, job openings and job creation plans, both reached new recovery highs. The percent of owners reporting hard to fill job openings rose four points to 13 percent, the best reading in 24 months. Plans to create jobs gained two points, rising to a net 6 percent of all owners, the best reading in 27 months. These indicators point to a pickup in job creation activity for the first quarter of 2011. However, the small business sector continues to underperform on job creation in this recovery compared to other recovery periods.”

NFIB will release their December Small Business Optimism survey on Tuesday.

Note: Small businesses have a larger percentage of real estate and retail related companies than the overall economy, so it is no surprise that hiring has lagged.