By Lindsay Walker
Twitter: @AzNewsmedia

A new report shows the Phoenix metro was second in the U.S. for job growth in small companies. 

The Paychex IHS Markit Small Business Watch report said the Valley has moved into positive territory with March job gains, just one year after the start of the coronavirus pandemic and its subsequent economic fallout.  New jobs posted a 0.61% gain from February. 

As a result, the greater Phoenix area placed second behind Dallas, another growing city in the Southwest. 

Phoenix was in the middle of the pack for wage gains in year-over-year comparisons during March 2021 over 2020, but the gains were higher than the national average. Greater Phoenix also landed in the top five for average hours worked per week, up from 2020 and from February 2021,  showing the city is slowly creeping back to work. 

According to a memo from city spokemsan Eric Jay Toll,  the data is another sign Phoenix is beginning to recover from the pandemic's devastating impact on the economy. 

"The gains in March are a continuing show of economic recovery in Greater Phoenix," he wrote. "The March 2021 small business employment numbers come on the heels of last week’s Arizona Employment Report, which also shows overall Phoenix area hiring continuing month-over-month growth.

The Arizona Office of Economic Opportunity's current workforce numbers report the Phoenix metro's workforce in February was 3.6% less than it was the year before for all companies and industries. 

Paychex, a national payroll and human resources support company for small businesses, has its western regional headquarters in Phoenix. The Small Business Employment Watch  assessing economic change among the company’s hundreds of small business clients around the U.S. on a monthly basis.