Small businesses continued to add jobs in December 2023, but the pace of hourly earnings growth decelerated on a year-over-year basis, according to the Small Business Employment Watch for the US released by Paychex.

The Small Business Jobs Index was at a level of 101.21 in December. Paychex noted small business have added jobs for the past 33 straight months.

Hourly earnings for workers at small business in the US rose by 3.48% in December to $32.16. The growth rate was flat compared to the previous month. However, wages had grown by 4.93% in December 2022.

“As the Paychex Small Business Employment Watch has consistently shown all year, the resiliency of the small business community has allowed them to meet the many challenges of 2023 and continue to grow,” Paychex President and CEO John Gibson said in a press release. “Wage inflation also continues to slow, indicating that the actions taken by the Fed are having their desired effect on inflation.”

The report also noted all 20 of the largest US states reported positive job growth to end 2023. And the average pace of job growth last year remained above the growth rate leading up to the pandemic.