ROCHESTER, N.Y.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan 6, 2026--
According to the Paychex Small Business Employment Watch, 2025 marked a year of consistency for U.S. small business job and wage growth trends. The monthly report’s Small Business Jobs Index, which reflects the payroll data of Paychex’s customers with fewer than 50 employees, experienced minimal change throughout the year and averaged 99.67 in 2025. Meanwhile, hourly earnings growth (2.71%) closed the year below three percent for the 17th consecutive month.
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“The latest read on our data reveals a continued moderation in wage inflation and little change in the rate of job growth among America's small businesses in 2025, with certain regions like the Midwest and sectors such as healthcare demonstrating strength throughout the year,” said John Gibson, Paychex president and CEO. “Looking more broadly across our client base, the pace of job growth among our U.S. customers with more than 50 employees was stronger to close the year and resulted in flat employment levels overall.”
Jobs Index and Wage Data Highlights
More Information
Since 2014, the Paychex Small Business Employment Watch has been a trusted source of employment trends for U.S. small businesses with fewer than 50 employees. The Employment Watch website offers interactive charts and historical data across the report’s two key components – the jobs index and wage data. Visit the Bloomberg Terminals or subscribe to receive monthly alerts with the latest data.
About the Paychex Small Business Employment Watch
The Paychex Small Business Employment Watch is released each month by Paychex, Inc. Only focused exclusively on businesses with fewer than 50 workers, the monthly report offers analysis of national employment and wage trends and examines regional, state, metro, and industry sector* activity. Drawing from the payroll data of approximately 350,000 Paychex clients, this industry benchmark delivers real-time insights into the small business trends driving the U.S. economy.
*Information regarding the professions included in the industry data can be found at the Bureau of Labor Statistics website.
About Paychex
Paychex, Inc. (Nasdaq: PAYX) is the digitally driven HR leader that is reimagining how companies address the needs of today’s workforce with the most comprehensive, flexible, and innovative HCM solutions for organizations of all sizes. Offering a full spectrum of HR advisory and employee solutions, Paychex pays 1 out of every 11 American private sector workers and is raising the bar in HCM for approximately 800,000 customers in the U.S. and Europe. Every member of the Paychex team is committed to fulfilling the company’s purpose of helping businesses succeed. Visit paychex.com to learn more.
The Paychex Small Business Employment Watch showed little change in the pace of job growth in 2025, while hourly earnings growth remained below three percent all year.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — A judge on Wednesday delayed Nick Reiner's arraignment in the killing of his parents, Rob Reiner and Michele Singer Reiner, after his high-profile defense attorney asked to be replaced by a public defender.
Judge Theresa McGonigle agreed to attorney Alan Jackson's request during a Los Angeles Superior Court hearing where Nick Reiner was expected to be arraigned and enter a plea 3 1/2 weeks after the beloved actor-director and his wife of 36 years were found dead with stab wounds in their home in the upscale Brentwood section of Los Angeles. Jackson did not say why he wanted to leave the case.
Deputy Public Defender Kimberly Greene then took over as Nick Reiner's attorney, and the judge delayed arraignment until Feb. 23. During his brief appearance, Reiner spoke only to agree to the delay.
Reiner stood behind glass in a custody area of the courtroom wearing brown jail garb and with his hair shaved. Two deputies stood behind him. Jackson and his team stood in front of him on the other side of the glass. At one point, Reiner stood on his tiptoes to peer over the lawyers’ heads to look at the audience.
McGonigle approved the use of cameras inside the courtroom but said pictures could not be taken of the defendant.
Nick Reiner, 32, the third of Rob Reiner's four children, has been held without bail since his arrest last month. He is charged with two counts of first-degree murder.
He also did not enter a plea during a brief first court appearance Dec. 17, when he wore shackles and a suicide prevention smock. He was not wearing that smock Wednesday.
Jackson, a former LA County prosecutor who represented Harvey Weinstein at his Los Angeles trial and Karen Read at her intensely followed trials in Massachusetts, had given no indication of the plans for his defense in the Reiner case. Before the judge granted his request to leave the case, Jackson told McGonigle there were 10 outstanding subpoenas in the defense’s investigation. The judge sealed the list of people and agreed it did not yet need to be shared with the prosecution.
After the initial Reiner hearing, Jackson called the case “a devastating tragedy.” He said the proceedings will be very complex and asked that the circumstances be met “not with a rush to judgment.”
A decade ago, Nick Reiner publicly discussed his struggles with addiction and mental health after making a movie with his father, “Being Charlie,” that was very loosely based on their lives.
Rob Reiner, 78, and Michele Singer Reiner, 70, were killed early on the morning of Dec. 14, and they were found in the late afternoon, authorities said. The LA County Medical Examiner said in initial findings that they died from “multiple sharp force injuries,” but released no other details, and police have said nothing about possible motives.
The counts against Reiner come with special circumstances of multiple murders and an allegation that he used a dangerous weapon, a knife. The additions could mean a greater sentence.
Prosecutors have said they have not yet decided whether to seek the death penalty.
The prosecution is being led by Deputy District Attorney Habib Balian, whose recent cases included the Menendez brothers' attempt at resentencing and the trial of Robert Durst.
Rob Reiner was a prolific director whose work included some of the most memorable and endlessly watchable movies of the 1980s and ’90s. His credits included “This is Spinal Tap,” “Stand By Me,” “A Few Good Men,” and “When Harry Met Sally,” during whose production he met Michele Singer, a photographer, and married her soon after.
This story has been corrected to reflect that Nick Reiner is the third of Rob Reiner’s four children, not the youngest.
Alan Jackson, the attorney for Nick Reiner, arrives in court for Reiner's arraignment on murder charges for the deaths of Rob and Michele Reiner Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2026, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
Alan Jackson, the attorney for Nick Reiner, arrives in court for Reiner's arraignment on murder charges for the deaths of Rob and Michele Reiner Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2026, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
Alan Jackson, the attorney for Nick Reiner, arrives in court for Reiner's arraignment on murder charges for the deaths of Rob and Michele Reiner Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2026, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
