COMP NEWS – Payroll company Paychex announced in a recent report that Arizona leads the nation for small business job growth.

The Small Business Employment Watch from Paychex and its approximately 350,000 clients shows Arizona’s small business jobs index is at 101.72 after rising 1.32% last month, good for fourth-best in July behind Washington, Georgia and Massachusetts.

 

Over the past year, Arizona’s small business jobs index has risen nearly 6%.

 

The numbers show a return to pre-pandemic levels for not only Arizona but across the country as the small business jobs index nationwide is at 99.36, up more than 1% over the last quarter and 5% from last year.

Frank Fiorelle, the Vice President of risk, compliance and data analytics at Paychex, said that restaurants were beginning to successfully open back up. Many small businesses in Arizona are paying sign-on bonuses, a trend that has swept through the United States amidst its recent labor crunch. Hourly workers are also earning more, the report finds:

Hourly earnings growth in Arizona is at 3.30%, according to the report, good for eighth-best among the country’s 20 largest states.

 

Nationwide, the average hourly wage growth is at 3.11%, up from 2.84% for Paychex clients.

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