Small businesses added 50,000 new jobs in January but paid employees less and gave them fewer hours, according to a small business index released today by Intuit Inc.

Small business employment rose by 0.2 percent in January. However, average monthly pay for all small business employees slipped by 0.1 percent to $2,632 in January, slightly less than the December revised estimate of $2,635 a month. Small business hourly employees worked an average of 107.5 hours in January, down from 107.6 hours in December.

The index is based on aggregate and anonymous online employment data from approximately 70,000 businesses with fewer than 20 employees that use Intuit Online Payroll.