Associated Press (04/30/13)
Small businesses picked up their hiring pace slightly in April, according to a survey released Tuesday by software maker Intuit. Small companies added 20,000 jobs, up from a revised 15,000 in March and a revised 14,000 in February. The rate of hiring was still down from January, when a revised 27,000 jobs were added. Workers’ average monthly pay fell $9, a drop of 0.4%, following an increase of $12 in March. The average monthly hours that employees worked fell 48 minutes, or 0.8%, compared with an increase of 18 minutes in March.