The damage omicron inflicted on the labor market hit small businesses hard, according to data released Wednesday by the payroll processor ADP.
Businesses with 49 or fewer employees shrank payrolls by 144,000 in January, ADP said. Included in those job losses were 106,000 in businesses with fewer than 19 employees.
Businesses with more than 1,000 employees saw payrolls contract by 94,000. Those with between 500 and 1,000 saw just 4,000 jobs lost. Medium sized business payrolls–those with between 50 and 500 employees–tumbled by 59,000.
Businesses with 19 or fewer employees employ around 33 million Americans. The 0.5 percent decline in January is the second-largest in data dating back to 2005. The largest was a 14 percent decline in April of 2020 as many businesses were shuttered in the initial phase of the lockdown. It matched the 0.5 percent decline in February 2009.
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