If you are trying to figure out if small businesses are hiring, it depends where you look.
Just last Friday when the government reported a sudden drop in the unemployment rate close to a presidential election, Andy Asbury was hiring a full-time employee to work at his Minneapolis real estate brokerage.
For Asbury, the need for a new employee was clear. Sales at his agency, Better Homes & Gardens Real Estate Area Leaders, are up 25 percent from a year ago and he’s expecting them to rise more next year. He’s getting signals from prospective sellers that things are going to get busier.
“People are planting the seeds right now for when they want to make their move,” he said.
Small businesses employ about half the nation’s work force, or about 60 million people, so keeping track of how they are faring is important.
There are some encouraging signs. Asbury and others in the housing and construction industries are feeling confident enough to add workers. So are parts of the manufacturing industry as demand for cars and trucks picks up. Many companies in the health-care field are bringing on new workers as the full implementation of the health care overhaul nears and baby boomers age.
The September report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows the gains. The number of salaried real estate workers has risen by 195,000 in the past 12 months.
In the auto industry, including parts makers, employment is up by 51,700, or 7 percent. The bureau doesn’t break out employment in health care consulting services, but hiring at management and technical consulting services for businesses is up by 637,000 or 5.8 percent.
There’s also an often overlooked form of small-business hiring — people who start their own companies and become self-employed. In September, 118,000 did that, according to the Labor Department.
But for all the good news, skeptics can find a gloomier view.
For example, many defense contractors are waiting to see how much Pentagon spending is cut under a process called sequestration.