Small businesses help spur state job growth

By ELIZABETH FERGUSON
Capital News Service
LANSING — Michigan’s small businesses are expecting to hire more employees and increase wages in the upcoming months, according to the Small Business Association of Michigan. Almost 30 percent of the 600 small businesses surveyed by the association in January said they hired more workers in the past six months, and 33 percent intend to hire more workers in the next six months. Nearly 40 percent of the surveyed businesses said they planned to raise wages. In 2014, there were 216,956 businesses in Michigan with less than 50 employees. Last year these businesses hired 20,526 new employees, according to the state’s Bureau of Labor Market Information and Strategic Initiative.