Businesses with fewer than 50 employees added approximately 95,000 jobs in January, according to a new report from Automatic Data Processing Inc. (ADP), a payroll services firm. This is down from 136,000 jobs in December and 111,000 in November, but overall consistent with the average over the last 12 months. These increases may help with America’s unemployment, but the job growth in the small business sector is not enough to regain the previous peak in employment, at least not for a few years.

ADP’s findings confirm previous results from other reports, including the National Small Business Association’s (NSBA) 2011 Year-End Economic Report and the U.S. Chamber’s quarterly Small Business Outlook Survey. According to the Chamber’s survey, only 19% of small business owners reported plans to hire in 2012. Before they will hire, small business owners need Washington to step out of the way. In fact, 78% of respondents agreed that taxation, regulation, and legislation from Washington make it harder to hire more employees.

Todd McCracken, president of the NSBA, says small business owners are still hesitant to hire until they are in a better financial position. “You don’t want to hire and then let them go in six to nine months,” says McCracken. “You want to feel confident that you will be a bigger business than you were before.” That confidence is likely to come from a better economy, a key concern for business owners. Unfortunately, recent numbers from the Congressional Budget Office show an uncertain economic future that will do little to boost small business confidence.

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