LANSING – SBAM’s latest quarterly Small Business Barometer survey shows that only 6 percent of small businesses hired more workers in the fourth quarter on 2005, the second lowest level reported in the 13-and-a-half-year history of the Barometer.
Twenty-one percent say they hired fewer workers ? the second highest level in the history of the Barometer. No matter how you slice it, the latest Barometer readings showed Michigan small businesses were struggling in the fourth quarter of 2005.
?Small business owners told us that sales and profits were down in the fourth quarter, so it?s no big surprise that they couldn?t afford to grow their workforce,? said SBAM Vice President Communications Michael Rogers. ?But I think we?re also seeing the cumulative impact of numerous factors that are making it more expensive for small employers to hire workers ? everything from the higher state minimum wage to the skyrocketing cost of fringe benefits like health insurance.?
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics found that, over the past 12 years, small firms created 65% of net new jobs.
?If Michigan small business owners are not hiring, then were are our new jobs going to come from? Certainly not from big manufacturers ? they are shedding jobs as fast as they can. We need to continue working to remove barriers to entrepreneurial dynamism and job creation,? Rogers said.
The quarterly Barometer survey is sponsored by SBAM with the participation and support of the Center for Urban Studies of Wayne State University. The survey was conducted by Public Policy Associates of Lansing.
