US small business jobs fell 7,000 in September

US small business jobs fell by 7,000 in September 2026, according to the Intuit QuickBooks Small Business Index, a monthly decline of 0.05 percent. The October 2026 report covers firms with one to nine employees, and it puts total small business employment at 12,929,100. The drop was broad rather than confined to one part of the economy, with most sectors, every region and every state in the index recording a decline.

The figures come from the index projection based on the latest available official statistics prior to publication. They describe the smallest employers in the United States, the firms that often feel a change in demand first because they hold little spare staff. A fall of 7,000 jobs is small against a base of nearly 12.93 million, but the spread of the decline gives it weight. When hiring eases in most sectors at once, it points to caution among owners rather than trouble in a single trade.

Small business jobs fell in most sectors

Small business jobs decreased in 10 of the 12 sectors tracked by the index. The largest decrease came from education and health services, which lost 2,600 jobs and is also the largest sector by employment. Utilities recorded the fastest decline, down 0.14 percent. Only two sectors added jobs in September. Leisure and hospitality added 600 jobs, a rise of 0.03 percent, and it was both the fastest and the largest increase. Construction added 100 jobs, a rise of 0.01 percent.

The pattern matters because the two growing sectors are small parts of the total. Leisure and hospitality and construction together added 700 jobs, far short of the 2,600 lost in education and health services alone. Owners in the shrinking sectors appear to have held back on new hires or let posts go unfilled. The index does not say why each firm acted, but the breadth of the fall suggests a common reason: owners waiting for clearer demand before they commit to new staff.

Small business jobs fell in every region

Small business jobs decreased across all eight regions in September. The Rocky Mountain region, covering Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Utah and Wyoming, had the fastest decline at 0.08 percent. The Southeast, covering Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia, had the largest decrease, losing 1,700 jobs. No region escaped the downturn, which sets this month apart from reports where one part of the country offsets another.

The regional spread also shows how uneven the slowdown was. A fast rate of decline in a smaller region and a large job loss in a bigger region are different kinds of pressure. The Rocky Mountain decline was sharp in percentage terms, while the Southeast loss was large in absolute terms because the region employs more small business staff. Both point the same way, and together they show that small business jobs weakened across the map rather than in one corner of it.

Small business jobs fell in every tracked state

Small business jobs declined in all 20 states tracked by the index. Colorado and Oregon tied for the fastest decline, each down 0.09 percent. California had the largest decrease, losing 1,100 jobs. Declines were essentially flat in Missouri and Washington, the two states closest to holding steady. The state figures mirror the regional ones: no tracked state added small business jobs in September.

For owners, the state detail is the part that hits closest to home. A national decline of 0.05 percent sounds mild, but a state losing more than a thousand small business posts in a month is a visible change in local hiring. It can mean fewer openings for jobseekers and slower growth for suppliers that serve small firms. It can also mean that owners are choosing to run lean until orders pick up, a choice that protects cash but limits how fast they can respond when demand returns.

The September report leaves one open question for the months ahead. Small business hiring has now eased across sectors, regions and states at the same time, and the next report will show whether owners start hiring again or keep holding back. The index covers firms with one to nine employees, and it will track that answer state by state.