Small businesses added 50,000 new jobs in January; however, they also paid employees less and gave them fewer hours, according to the Small Business Employment Index by Intuit Inc.

The index also reveals that small-business employment grew by 0.2 percent in January for an annual growth rate of 2.9 percent. As average monthly hours worked dropped by 0.05 percent to equal six minutes, average monthly compensation fell by 0.1 percent to $3.

"Overall the small-business labor market is not weak but not strong, either," says Susan Woodward, the economist who worked with Intuit to create the Index. "Small-business employment continues to rise but at a rate that will not get us back to full employment very quickly. Overall, nonsalaried employees saw their hours and compensation decrease slightly, but so did the price level. When adjusted for inflation, compensation is about flat. The percentage of non-salaried people working full time is also down slightly, a trend that began in March 2011."