Staffing at Sacramento's small businesses has shrunk more than 11 percent so far this year, but individual paychecks have risen nearly 4 percent, according to the latest survey by SurePayroll.
The firm's Small Business Scorecard tracks the health of the nation's small businesses by looking at their staffing and pay levels.
At 11.5 percent, Sacramento's plunge is the steepest of the 35 metropolitan areas SurePayroll surveys and the only double-digit percentage decrease as of the Aug. 31 survey.
Nationally, small-business staffing levels are off 2.6 percent, the survey found.
Other California metropolitan areas have fared much better than Sacramento. In San Francisco and Los Angeles, small-business staffing is down about 2 percent, while San Diego's is off by 3.8 percent.
For those taking home paychecks, the picture was somewhat better. Sacramento small-business workers' pay is up 3.7 percent, outpacing its California counterparts.
Nationally, paychecks are down 0.3 percent as of Aug. 31, SurePayroll reported.
Meanwhile, small-business owners remain wary of hiring and pessimistic that government can jump-start the economy, according to SurePayroll's Optimism Survey.
"With a challenging economic outlook on the economy, and low confidence in our government's ability to stimulate the economy, it's no surprise that we don't yet see an investment made in hiring," SurePayroll President Michael Alter, said in a statement. "Business owners need confidence before they can risk the extra head count, and they just don't have it yet."
Social media survey
A job candidate's social media activity rarely factors into an employer's final hiring decision, according to a new survey of human resource professionals by the Society for Human Resource Management.
Two-thirds said legal risks dissuaded human resource staffers from using social sites to screen potential candidates. Meanwhile, nearly half of those surveyed said that information they discovered on the sites may not be relevant to candidate's work potential or performance. The survey can be found at www.shrm.org/surveys.
Job forums to begin
El Dorado Hills Chamber of Commerce launches its series of fall job forums Sept. 12.
The free forums are 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. on the second and fourth Mondays of the month. Job seekers can network, receive advice and information from employment experts, and meet with recruiters at the sessions. The forums are at California Welcome Center, 2085 Vine St., Suite 105, in El Dorado Hills.
For more information, call Naomi Kinert at Career Focus at (916) 337-6224.
State jobs seminar set
The State Personnel Board holds its lunchtime seminar noon Sept. 28 at its offices, 801 Capital Mall, in Sacramento.
Participants can learn how to complete state applications, how to read application bulletins and learn about the state's hiring process during the hourlong session.
For more information, call the board at (866) 844-8671.
Job-hunting questions?
Ask Terri Carpenter, one of our "Ask the Experts" writers, who answers your career questions online.
A jobs expert at the Sacramento Employment & Training Agency, Carpenter has expertise in résumé writing, job-skills training and career counseling.
To post your questions or view her advice to other job seekers, go to www.sacbee.com/ask.
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Call The Bee's Darrell Smith, (916) 321-1040
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