Report: Small business hiring edged up in January

A new survey shows small businesses nudged up their hiring during January for a second straight month.

The survey released Thursday by the National Federation of Independent Business showed that the average payroll per company rose by 0.09 workers. It had risen by 0.03 workers in December.

The majority of owners surveyed — 80 percent — said they made no changes in their employment levels in recent months. Eleven percent said they had added workers and 9 percent said they had cut their payrolls.

N-F-I-B Chief Economist William Dunkelberg says that the slight improvement brought hiring levels back to where they stood in April 2012. He says that is a good sign but that owners remain cautious.

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