Small businesses increase hiring in February

Early data from the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) show positive job growth in February, according to Calculated Risk.

Although similar reports have been improving recently, most showed either near zero or slightly negative growth, indicating that small businesses were contracting at a slower rate. However, for the past five months, small firms’ hiring plans have been consistently positive.

According to the new survey, plans to create jobs jumped up two points to a net 5 percent of all firms. While this may not seem like a big number, it represents a huge improvement over the low mark of negative 10 percent in March 2009.