Small businesses poised to hire, survey finds

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The new year could bring some new jobs, according to an organization that represents small businesses.

The National Federation of Independent Business says more businesses have plans to hire new workers in the coming months than at any time since the autumn of 2008.

Six percent of business owners surveyed by the organization said in December that they were creating hiring plans for 2011, an increase of two percentage points over November and the most in 27 months. In addition, 13% of business owners surveyed said that they had job openings that they were finding difficult to fill -- a 4 percentage point jump over November.

William C. Dunkelberg, the organization’s chief economist, welcomed the news but said that small businesses were still not creating jobs as quickly as they had in the recovery periods following past recessions. The organization surveyed about 800 businesses.

The federal government’s statistics on employment for December are expected to be released on Friday.

--- Sharon Bernstein
Twitter/@sharonbernstein