SmallBusinessNewz

Although this probably won't come as welcome news, more information has been released concerning the state of employment as it related to small businesses in April.  Contrary to an earlier report, the National Federation of Independent Business believes jobs were lost.

Intuit suggested the opposite at the end of April, claiming 66,000 jobs were created during the month, and its data supposedly came from 55,000 small businesses.  The NFIB arrived at its conclusion after surveying just 2,200 small biz owners, so perhaps the more pessimistic take is incorrect.

Still, William Dunkelberg, the NFIB's chief economist, said in a statement, "Average employment per firm first turned negative in April of 2007.  It has been negative for 10 of the last 12 quarterly readings ending with a negative 0.18 in April 2010 (seasonally adjusted).  Since July 2008, employment per firm fell steadily each quarter, logging the largest reductions in the survey's 35-year history."

Dunkelberg also said, "The steep recession will unlikely be followed by a steep recovery, the numbers just aren't moving in that direction. . . .  There is little enthusiasm among owners to hire more workers, primarily due to continued weak sales trends."

Maybe there'll be better news from both Intuit and the NFIB for May, anyway.