Hiring Flat But Recovering: November 2025 Gusto Small Business Jobs Report

Here's the latest breakdown on the numbers for America's small-business economy for November 2025 from the Gusto Small Business Jobs Report -- a real-time view of hiring among the 400,000+ U.S. small businesses on Gusto.

The TL;DR: Hiring among America’s small businesses was essentially flat in November, posting a modest -2,000 net job loss for the month — a sharp rebound from October’s revised decline of -37,900 jobs, but well below the 12-month average of 43,500 jobs added by U.S. small-businesses with less than 50 employees.

However, below the surface there are pockets of strong hiring among small businesses in November, including health care, construction, and wholesale trade. By contrast, most job losses were led by small businesses in retail, hospitality, and professional services.