As we look forward to 2026, our economists took stock of the top small-business stories we saw unfold this year, and gathered them into 5 key trends we believe will help reshape the nation’s small-business economy in the coming year.

Here are the 5 big trends we expect to shape the small-business economy in 2026 and beyond. Full analysis here: https://gusto.com/resources/gusto-insights/2026-smb-predictions

Here's the latest breakdown on the numbers for America's small-business economy for November 2025 from the Gusto Small Business Jobs Report -- a real-time view of hiring among the 400,000+ U.S. small businesses on Gusto.

The TL;DR: Hiring among America’s small businesses was essentially flat in November, posting a modest -2,000 net job loss for the month — a sharp rebound from October’s revised decline of -37,900 jobs, but well below the 12-month average of 43,500 jobs added by U.S. small-businesses with less than 50 employees. 

However, below the surface there are pockets of strong hiring among small businesses in November, including health care, construction, and wholesale trade. By contrast, most job losses were led by small businesses in retail, hospitality, and professional services.

Gen Z’s white-collar careers are running into a bottleneck: hiring for 20- to 28-year-olds continued to remain flat this year, leaving young professionals competing for a limited number of openings.

With each new class of graduates entering a market that isn’t expanding, early-career workers are finding it harder to land roles that match their skills, or to move up once they’re in the door.

In this analysis, Gusto's Senior Economist Nich Tremper unpacks the data on entry-level hiring in white-collar fields. Full study here: https://gusto.com/resources/gusto-insights/gen-z-hiring-2025

An affordable and secure retirement is part of the dream of many U.S. workers. However, nearly 56 million U.S. workers lack access to an employer-sponsored savings plan.

To expand access, Congress created the Small Employer Pension Program -- a federal tax credit that helps small businesses start a retirement plan. But uptake has been low.

What happens when we show personalized tax credit savings estimates to small business owners? Answer: It has a huge impact on uptake of the tax credit.

This episode walks through a study from Gusto Insights showing that the simple act of nudging small businesses led to $31 million of savings for U.S. small business owners.

Small businesses in America today face a paradox. On paper, the economy looks strong: GDP is growing at nearly 4%, consumer spending is healthy, and inflation is moderating. Yet business owners are seeing something different on the ground – weakening demand, falling consumer confidence, and a labor market that has cooled dramatically from its red-hot pace of recent years.

Are small businesses hiring AI-focused roles today? Most discussion of AI and hiring focuses on large, enterprise-scale companies. However, we found a small but growing share of small businesses on Gusto are hiring for AI roles – and that the pace has accelerated rapidly in the past two years. 

In this analysis, we look at the share of employees on small business payrolls with “AI” job titles. And we examine how AI hiring has shifted since 2019, and which industries and cities in America are leading the pack on AI hiring among small businesses.

View the full analysis here.

In this episode of "The Insights Brief" from Gusto, we summarize the key takeaways from our recent research, "Beyond the Books: How Accountants Can Help Small Businesses Thrive." Download the full study at: https://gusto.com/resources/gusto-insights/beyond-the-books

America’s healthcare system is mostly based on employer-provided health insurance. Because roughly 46% of Americans work at small businesses, the ability of small companies to affordably offer health benefits to their employees is a critical national priority. 

Based on our analysis of real-time payroll and benefits data from Gusto, we find that since 2022 the cost of offering health insurance has risen sharply for small businesses, far outpacing inflation. Additionally, health insurance premiums are expected to rise sharply in 2026, and many employers are bracing for the largest increases in costs in more than 15 years.

This episode walks through our latest research report from Gusto Insights: https://gusto.com/resources/gusto-insights/smbs-continue-to-offer-health-insurance

Accountants have long been trusted partners to small businesses, but that partnership is changing. Today’s clients want more than bookkeeping support or tax preparation. They’re looking for guidance on compensation, growth, and how to navigate uncertainty.

This report draws on survey responses from more than 1,200 small business leaders who currently work with an accountant. It highlights how clients choose their providers, which services they value most, and where they’re willing to pay for more support.

The findings offer a clear message: small businesses are asking for more. Accountants who recognize this shift have an opportunity to grow their impact in the businesses they serve.

Summary of our annual State of Small Business 2025 report. Drawing on responses from a nationally representative survey of 1,148 small businesses, we reveal what America’s small business owners think about the state of the economy, their views on tariffs and interest rates, and their expectations for hiring and business performance in the coming year.

October 2025 marks the inaugural release of the Gusto Small Business Jobs Report – a real-time view of hiring among the 400,000+ U.S. small businesses on Gusto. This podcast breaks down the state of hiring among U.S. small businesses, as seen in anonymized Gusto payroll data.