New Stats Take A Swing At SME Optimism

Corporations are rolling out their third quarter results for 2015, but analysts are releasing new figures about the state of small businesses in the U.S., too. The outlook may raise pessimism.

[bctt tweet=”The outlook of small businesses in the U.S. may raise pessimism.”]

Paychex released its Small Business Jobs Index on Tuesday (Nov. 3), revealing that the pace of job growth among SMEs is slowing. The index dropped slightly in October compared to a month prior, but analysts noted that small business employment “remains in positive territory,” reports by AccountingToday said in publishing the results.

“We see a little bit of a decrease for October,” said Paychex President and CEO Martin Mucci in a statement. “There is still employment growth, but the growth is down a bit from last year.”

According to the research, New England was the only region in the country to experience positive growth for both one-month and 12-month cycles.

Still, job growth for SMEs is sluggish. According to Mucci, year over year, the figures for each state are flattening out, though “it’s still positive,” he said.

Results from Paychex coincided with the release of findings from Citizens Bank on Wednesday (Nov. 4), which found that small business owners are largely still dependent on personal bank accounts to manage their company’s finances.

According to Citizens, one-quarter of SMEs keep their business’ money in the same account that they keep their personal finances. This is despite the risk of a negative impact to their personal tax status, as well as their business’ credit.

“Using a personal account for business finances is an easy mistake to make when starting out but can quickly become a liability,” said Citizen Bank President of Business Banking Quincy Miller in a statement, adding that ensuring financial figures are correct when filing taxes can be difficult if personal finances are used for business expenses and vice versa.

“Not having a separate account can make it too easy for companies to spend personal funds that may be needed for personal mortgage payments and other important household expenses,” Miller added.

To check out what else is HOT in B2B, click here.