The April CBIZ Small Business Employment Index (SBEI), a barometer for hiring trends among companies with 300 or fewer employees, increased by 1.35 percent through the month, after posting an increase of .69 percent in March. To date, the index results display the highest hiring gain of 2011.

Philip Noftsinger, business unit president for CBIZ Payroll Services, says, “Despite some disappointing GDP news from the first quarter and a recent increase in weekly jobless claims, the index continues to show positive job growth for the third consecutive month. This month’s results show a stronger growth factor than the results in the prior two periods, indicating there may be less volatility in the small business marketplace.”

The SBEI’s data offers a contrary gauge of the small business marketplace from that of ADP, the payroll processor, which released its most recent report on Wednesday, May 4, 2011.

Additional take-away points from the April data set include:

- At a glance: Of the companies that were surveyed, the data shows that 26.9 percent increased employee headcount while 53.2 percent maintained the number of employees. 19.9 percent of the companies surveyed did report a decrease in their employment patterns.

- Small business owners more likely to hire: From February to April, the study shows that fewer employers are reducing their workforce and, instead, hiring or maintaining the current staff. Index results from March to April show a 1.3 percent decrease in employee reduction.

- What to watch: As gas prices continue to rise, the resulting impact may inhibit future growth. This is an issue that small business owners will want to follow considering it may hinder future business projections and current costs of operation.

“It will be important to see if recent world events, as well as sluggish economic indicators from the first quarter, reverse the employment trend among smaller employers,” Noftsinger says. “It remains our opinion that smaller employers are dialed in to short-term demand and engaging larger workforces based primarily upon that factor.”