Intuit QuickBooks Small Business Index, August 2024

Small business employment: down by 3,200 jobs

Employment at UK small businesses with one to nine employees decreased by 3,200 jobs in July compared to June — now employing 4,284,100 people. As the chart below shows, employment is down by 9,600 jobs compared to July 2023 (an annual decrease of 0.22%).

Likewise, job vacancies (as shown in the “job vacancies” tab in the chart above) at small businesses in the UK decreased by 500 open positions in July. However, the number of open positions remains largely unchanged since January of this year. Currently, there are 136,500 open positions at small businesses in the UK.

Monthly employment growth rate: down by 0.07%

Compared to June’s small business employment total of 4,287,300 jobs, the monthly decrease in July was 0.07%.

Employment by sector: down in all but one sector

In July, small business employment decreased in 12 of the 13 sectors covered by the Index. Following last month’s trends, the information and communications sector (SIC J, which includes publishers, media companies and telecommunications) was the only sector to see employment growth in July, increasing by 100 jobs and 0.02%. The education sector (SIC P) once again had the fastest monthly decrease, at 0.23%, with 100 fewer jobs.

In the table below, use the green buttons to see the number of open positions by sector as well as monthly employment data.

Employment by nation and region: most regions saw declines in job vacancies and employment

In July, small business employment decreased in all four UK nations—falling fastest in Northern Ireland, with a monthly decline of 0.12%. Within England, the East of England was the only region to see employment growth in July, with a monthly increase of 0.06% and 300 added jobs. North East England had the fastest declining employment, with 400 fewer jobs (a 0.37% decrease). 

Job vacancies were more of a mixed bag—in July, job vacancies increased by more than 1% in both Northern Ireland and Scotland, but declined in England and Wales. Within England, job vacancies contracted the fastest in the East of England, with a monthly decline of 1.34%. Use the green buttons on the map below to see the number of open positions at small businesses by nation or region.

More information

Get all the details from the interactive Small Business Index dashboard.

Media inquiries

Media contact details for QuickBooks in the UK can be found here on the QuickBooks UK website.

USA Index

The Intuit QuickBooks Small Business Index is also published monthly in the US. Get the latest small business employment insights for the US here. 

Canada Index

The Intuit QuickBooks Small Business Index is also published monthly in Canada. Get the latest small business employment insights for Canada here.

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