A new analysis says small businesses in Las Vegas are more likely to hire new employees now than a year ago, but wages in the sector are forecast to decline.
Glenview, Ill.-based SurePayroll, which monitors small-business trends, said hiring and wage data signal the end of nationwide downward trends heading into 2012. For Las Vegas, one of 35 metropolitan statistical areas studied by the company, a 5.3 percent increase in hiring is forecast, second only to San Antonio, Texas.
The wage index, however, projects a 3.6 percent decline in pay offered by small-business operators in Las Vegas, fourth worst among the 35 cities, trailing Indianapolis, Cleveland and Columbus, Ohio.
Regionally, the South had the best hiring and payroll projections. The Northeast was trending up in wages but down in hiring, while the Midwest and West were down in both categories.
Despite negative national numbers over most of 2011, SurePayroll CEO and President Michael Alter said December’s “optimism index was nearly twice as high as it was in September.
“We saw caution in 2011, but the leading indicators suggest 2012 looks positive,” Alter said in a release announcing the projections. “The sun is on the horizon. Optimism is higher, and 50 percent plan to hire and wages look to go up."
SurePayroll compiles data from more than 35,000 small businesses, focusing on “micro businesses,” those with an average of eight employees.