Jul 22, 2011

Are You Hiring or Not?

[caption id="attachment_393" align="alignright" width="330" caption="Are you hiring or not?"]

[/caption] Earlier this month, The Wall Street Journal wrote about a U.S. Chamber of Commerce report that showed more than half of executives at small businesses did not plan to add staff members.¹ Four days before that, The Wall Street Journal’s “In Charge” blog wrote about an ADP/Macroeconomic Advisers report that showed an increase in small-business hiring for the month of June.² So, which is it? Are small-business owners hiring or not? The Chamber of Commerce report was based on respondents’ attitudes, while the ADP report was based on data. Neither the media contacts for the Chamber of Commerce nor the media contacts for ADP returned The Small Business Authority’s phone calls for clarification. We’re fans of number crunching ourselves, and we use the ADP National Employment Report as one of eight factors affecting our SB Authority Index. We also want to know where you stand. That’s why we asked business owners to weigh in on the issue in this month's Market Sentiment Survey. Be sure to check back with the blog, because the results will be out soon! For more information, visit: 1. “Little Hiring Seen by Small Business” 2. “Hiring Picks up at Small Firms” 3. Small Business Outlook Survey 4. ADP Small Business Report