On average, small-business hourly employees worked 110.2 hours in July, equaling a 25.4-hour workweek. This represents a 0.7 percent increase from June's 109.5 hours.

"This increase in hours worked is very good news and shows that small businesses have work to do," Woodward says.

In July, the average monthly pay for all small-business employees was $2,682, a 0.6 percent increase compared to the June's $2,666 per month. Approximately 65 percent of small-business employees are hourly, and 30.3 percent of them put in more than 140 hours in July, which is up from 30.1 percent in June.

"Compensation per employee is up," Woodward says. "Through many months of this tepid recovery, we saw essentially no movement in either total compensation per employee or the hourly wage. This movement coupled with the rise in employment and the hiring rate means that there is finally competition for workers."

Additionally, the Intuit Index examines employment by census divisions and states across the U.S.

"For the most part, small-business job growth continues across most of the country," says Ginny Lee, senior vice president and general manager of Intuit's employee management solutions division. "While Maryland and the East South Central division continue to show a slight decline in employment, these changes are within the range of random variation and not particularly worrisome. In our data, we also see that hours worked are up across all divisions, another sign that times are getting better for many small businesses nationwide."

Small-business employment by the U.S. Census Division is growing in most regions of the U.S., except the East South Central division. The figures represent employment from approximately 68,000 small-business employers that use Intuit Online Payroll.

Small-business employment by state is increasing for most states, which is reflected by 1,000 small businesses that use Intuit Online Payroll.