Small business hiring was flat in December ending a three-month run of decreased hiring. The Scorecard hiring index ended December at 10,466 nationwide - same as November.Net new small business hiring in December, however, was equivalent to zero.
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Small business hiring grew only 0.3 percent in 2005 compared with 4.4 percent in 2004, according to the SurePayroll Small Business Scorecard based on payroll data for more than 15,000 small businesses.Small businesses appear to have transitioned from being recovery leaders to recovery laggards. GDP is tracking on 3.8 percent annualized growth based on the first three quarters of 2005 yet small businesses don't appear to be driving that growth. Larger companies are outperforming smaller companies in driving growth and in reaping the rewards of changing economic factors. Small businesses have to deal with higher health insurance costs and costs of capital.

Larger businesses can invest in technology and boost productivity faster than small businesses can. They also gain purchasing economies of scale because they buy in larger volumes.Salaries were slightly down for the year, although there was a slight uptick in December. The SurePayroll Pay Index clocked in at 948 at the end of December, up 8 points from November. The average small business salary across the nation now stands at an annualized rate of $29,126.Lower salaries are good news for small business owners but bad news for workers.

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