What the May Jobs data means to Washington State Employers

Two new clients I worked with in May provide this month’s theme:

                 (1) An independent contractor for years, providing a professional service, this business owner decided to invest in a retail space and hire on her first employees. With no previous experience in managing employees, her biggest concern was compliance—how to report what information, and to which agency, in order to avoid fines and penalties.

                 (2) The owners of an expanding doctor’s office, knowing they deal with sensitive client information (HIPAA Regulations, etc...), were looking to reduce their exposure during the hiring process by performing background screening of candidates as well as establishing company wide policies for better employer to employee communication of industry compliance standards.

          I’m always interested when a new business tax deduction or tax holiday is proposed via government in an effort to spur business hiring. In the small sample of business owners I bring on each year (75-100), most will tell you it is not tax breaks they want as an incentive for hiring, but risk mitigation—lower the level of risk that comes with hiring on a new employee.

          As more SMBs embark on the journey of employment growth, options for compliance and risk management are becoming increasingly more sought out. And knowing as they do, business owners are concerned about their increased chances of state or federal audits as our governments struggle to find new sources of revenue to bridge their increasing budget gaps —and the tidal wave of this trend is coming...as 2014, the year of the Affordable Care Act, looms.

          With that being said, employment growth is happening, which is wonderful news—And here in the Greater Seattle Area, when we look at the local unemployment rate, we should feel particularly optimistic about our prospects to make of our future what we wish. Cheers.

Data Overview:

Small businesses with 1-19 employees had a net jobs gain of 37,000 jobs nationally (ADP/NER)

Professional/Business Services Industry had a net gain of 42,000 jobs nationally (ADP/NER)

Business Services had the 2nd largest jobs growth by industry in Franchise Employment (ADP/NFR)

WA State had a gain of over 3,000 jobs (ADP/RER)

WA State Preliminary Unemployment Rate dropped to 6.8% (BLS)

Seattle/Bellevue/Everett Preliminary Unemployment Rate dropped to 4.7% (BLS)