Few Foresee Adding Employees Even If Sales Grow

Summary

---

Two sobering business surveys, a weak June jobs report and interviews with local business owners show a continued reluctance to add new employees anytime soon.

On July 8, the federal government announced employers added just 18,000 jobs in June, the fewest new hires in nine months. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce on Monday released its survey of 1,409 small- business owners, 64 percent of whom said they will keep the same number of employees over the next year. The next day, another business group, the National Federation of Independent Business came out with its June Optimism Index, which showed 11 percent of owners will hire new workers, down 2 percent from May.

See the full content of this document

Extract

---

Few Foresee Adding Employees Even If Sales Grow

Locally, small-business owners interviewed last week say they will likely retain an already slimmed-down workforce, even if business grows. They would rather shove...

See the full content of this document

---