Main Street Health Report

Name: Main Street Health Report, November 2025
Creator: Homebase
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

November 2025

Labor and wage stats

Every month we measure how small businesses are actually doing, from the timesheets of more than 100,000 of them: who is working, how many hours, what they are paid, and how that compares with the same month in previous years.

Employees working declined 2.7% in November, the steepest contraction since 2023, as small businesses enter the critical holiday season.

Download the PDF Email the data team See every monthly report

Hourly employees: 2M+
Small businesses: 100K+
Measured, not surveyed: Timesheet data

The owners of Antique Taco standing outside their restaurant

Main Street at a glance

The top things to know this month

2.7%
Employees working declined 2.7% in November, the steepest contraction since 2023, as small businesses enter the critical holiday season.
3.1%
Employee hours fell 3.1%, one of the largest pullbacks in recent years. The broad-based decline is a result of businesses heading into the holiday season with reduced workforce.
Homebase data, by region
Businesses Open declined MoM but less sharply than last year, resulting in a higher net level overall. The Southeast still appears softer only because last year’s comparable month was inflated by post-hurricane recovery, while this year reflects normal activity.

What the data shows

Each finding below takes one measure of Main Street, participation, hours, wages, hiring and turnover, and compares November 2025 with the same month in the two years before it. Every chart is drawn from the figures, which are published alongside it for anyone who wants to check or reuse them.

Employees Working

Workforce Participation Falls Sharpest in Three Years

Employees working declined 2.7% in November, the steepest contraction since 2023, as small businesses enter the critical holiday season.

(Monthly change in 7-day average of “Employees Working”, relative to January of respective year)

Grouped column chart of the month-over-month change in employees working, one group per month and one column per year (2023, 2024 and 2025). Most recent month: 2025 down 2.7%.
Category	2023	2024	2025
Jan – Feb	1.4%	2.1%	(1.4%)
Feb – Mar	0.1%	1.2%	2.1%
Mar – Apr	1.5%	0.3%	1.1%
Apr – May	1.0%	1.1%	0.4%
May – Jun	1.8%	2.5%	1.9%
Jun – Jul	(0.4%)	(1.9%)	(0.6%)
Jul – Aug	(3.2%)	(2.8%)	(2.9%)
Aug – Sep	(3.8%)	(3.1%)	(3.5%)
Sep – Oct	(2.6%)	(2.8%)	(2.8%)
Oct – Nov	(1.8%)	(2.3%)	(2.7%)

Hours Worked

Labor Activity Drops as Seasonal Cooling Intensifies

Employee hours fell 3.1%, one of the largest pullbacks in recent years. The broad-based decline is a result of businesses heading into the holiday season with reduced workforce.

(Monthly change in 7-day average of “Hours Worked”, relative to January of respective year)

Grouped column chart of the month-over-month change in hours worked, one group per month and one column per year (2023, 2024 and 2025). Most recent month: 2025 down 3.0%.
Category	2023	2024	2025
Jan – Feb	1.5%	2.7%	(1.4%)
Feb – Mar	0.9%	2.1%	2.9%
Mar – Apr	0.6%	(0.6%)	0.6%
Apr – May	1.6%	2.0%	1.2%
May – Jun	2.2%	2.7%	1.8%
Jun – Jul	(0.1%)	(2.0%)	(0.2%)
Jul – Aug	(3.1%)	(2.5%)	(2.9%)
Aug – Sep	(4.8%)	(4.0%)	(4.6%)
Sep – Oct	(2.3%)	(2.5%)	(2.4%)
Oct – Nov	(2.0%)	(2.4%)	(3.0%)

Homebase data, by region

Business Activity Softens Across All Regions

Businesses Open declined MoM but less sharply than last year, resulting in a higher net level overall. The Southeast still appears softer only because last year’s comparable month was inflated by post-hurricane recovery, while this year reflects normal activity.

(Month-over-month change in core economic indicators, by Census region)

Map of month-over-month change by Census region, with the figures for 2023, 2024 and 2025. In 2025: Mid-Atlantic down 2.4%, Midwest down 2.9%, Northeast down 2.6%, Other up 0.4%, Southeast down 1.7%, Southwest down 1.0%, West down 1.8%.
Region	2023	2024	2025
Midwest	no data	−4.3%	−2.9%
Northeast	no data	−5.7%	−2.6%
Southeast	no data	+3.3%	−1.7%
Southwest	no data	−2.6%	−1.0%
West	no data	−3.0%	−1.8%
Mid-Atlantic	no data	−5.1%	−2.4%
Other	no data	−4.2%	+0.4%

Region classification - Midwest: ND, SD, NE, KS, MN, IA, MO, WI, IL, IN, OH, MI; West: NV, UT, AZ, NM, CO, WY, MT, ID, OR, WA,

Employees Working

Entertainment and Retail See Deepest Workforce Declines

Entertainment (-9.8%) and Hospitality (-8.9%) posted near-double-digit workforce contractions. Even resilient sectors like Beauty & Wellness (+0.1%) and Medical/Veterinary (+0.3%) showed only minimal growth compared to prior-year gains.

(Monthly change in 7-day average of “Employees Working”, relative to January of respective year)

Grouped column chart of the month-over-month change in employees working, one group per month and one column per year (2023, 2024 and 2025). Most recent month: 2025 down 2.7%.
Category	2023	2024	2025
Jan – Feb	1.4%	2.1%	(1.4%)
Feb – Mar	0.1%	1.2%	2.1%
Mar – Apr	1.5%	0.3%	1.1%
Apr – May	1.0%	1.1%	0.4%
May – Jun	1.8%	2.5%	1.9%
Jun – Jul	(0.4%)	(1.9%)	(0.6%)
Jul – Aug	(3.2%)	(2.8%)	(2.9%)
Aug – Sep	(3.8%)	(3.1%)	(3.5%)
Sep – Oct	(2.6%)	(2.8%)	(2.8%)
Oct – Nov	(1.8%)	(2.3%)	(2.7%)

Entertainment includes events/festivals, sports/recreation, parks, movie theaters, and other categories.

Hourly Wages

Wage Growth Continues but Slows Relative to Prior Years

Hourly wages rose to +42.6% above January 2022, although month on month wage gains were smaller in 2025 (0.5%) than 2024 (0.8%) – suggesting softer business momentum heading into year-end.

(Percent change in average “Hourly Wages” across all jobs, relative to January 2022)

Line chart of average hourly wages against January 2022, monthly. It reaches 40.8% above the January 2022 level by November 2025.
Period	All industries
Point 1	1.3%
Point 2	1.1%
Point 3	2.7%
Point 4	3.3%
Point 5	3.7%
Point 6	4.4%
Point 7	5.1%
Point 8	6.0%
Point 9	7.3%
Point 10	7.7%
Point 11	9.4%
Jan'23	11.8%
Point 13	13.4%
Point 14	13.5%
Point 15	14.1%
Point 16	15.0%
Point 17	15.7%
Point 18	16.6%
Point 19	16.7%
Point 20	18.5%
Point 21	19.8%
Point 22	21.2%
Point 23	22.2%
Jan'24	24.7%
Point 25	25.9%
Point 26	25.8%
Point 27	26.5%
Point 28	26.9%
Point 29	27.5%
Point 30	27.9%
Point 31	28.5%
Point 32	29.3%
Point 33	29.8%
Point 34	30.9%
Point 35	31.4%
Jan'25	33.7%
Point 37	35.6%
Point 38	35.8%
Point 39	35.9%
Point 40	35.9%
Point 41	36.6%
Point 42	37.5%
Point 43	37.3%
Point 44	38.8%
Point 45	40.1%
Nov'25	40.8%

Hourly Wages

Wage Growth Moderates in Food & Drink and Retail

Food & Drink ($13.98) and Retail ($15.79) showed decelerating wage growth while Health Care ($20.74) and Professional Services ($17.82) maintained stronger wage momentum.

(Average “Hourly Wages” across all jobs)

Column chart of the average hourly wage by sector in November 2025: Food & Drink $13.73, Entertainment $14.45, Retail $15.46, Health Care $20.15, Professional Services $17.60.
Category	November 2025
Food & Drink	$13.73
Entertainment	$14.45
Retail	$15.46
Health Care	$20.15
Professional Services	$17.60

Number of Jobs Added

Hiring Continues To Be Softer Than Prior Years

Job additions stayed in negative territory (-1.7%), underperforming 2024 (+1.4%), as businesses correct for earlier-season over-hiring and return to typical late-year staffing patterns.

(Monthly change in average “Number of Jobs Added” across all jobs)

Grouped column chart of the month-over-month change in jobs added per location, one group per month and one column per year (2023, 2024 and 2025). Most recent month: 2025 down 1.8%.
Category	2023	2024	2025
Jan – Feb	2.0%	3.1%	5.0%
Feb – Mar	(3.3%)	0.7%	0.4%
Mar – Apr	7.3%	7.0%	5.5%
Apr – May	3.8%	2.8%	6.4%
May – Jun	(1.4%)	1.2%	(0.4%)
Jun – Jul	(7.0%)	(11.7%)	(11.4%)
Jul – Aug	5.4%	8.1%	10.3%
Aug – Sep	1.1%	0.1%	(3.7%)
Sep – Oct	(5.6%)	(9.1%)	(6.0%)
Oct – Nov	(5.3%)	1.4%	(1.8%)

Number of Jobs Archived

Businesses Readjust Workforce As Turnover Picks Up

Job archiving rose to +1.2% relative to January 2025, reversing the negative trends seen in 2023 (-2.4%) and 2024 (-1.8%). The uptick suggests businesses are readjusting headcount as they enter year-end.

(Monthly change in average “Number of Jobs Archived” across all jobs)

Grouped column chart of the month-over-month change in jobs archived per location, one group per month and one column per year (2023, 2024 and 2025). Most recent month: 2025 down 2.0%.
Category	2023	2024	2025
Jan – Feb	(3.9%)	(1.7%)	0.4%
Feb – Mar	(2.1%)	(0.1%)	(3.9%)
Mar – Apr	3.7%	9.6%	2.5%
Apr – May	7.7%	6.0%	3.4%
May – Jun	1.9%	(10.8%)	1.2%
Jun – Jul	(0.2%)	(4.8%)	(5.9%)
Jul – Aug	12.1%	5.7%	9.5%
Aug – Sep	(3.9%)	1.7%	(1.9%)
Sep – Oct	0.0%	(5.9%)	(5.3%)
Oct – Nov	(15.5%)	0.3%	(2.0%)

How we measure Main Street

The dataset is based on Homebase data gathered from more than 100,000 businesses and 2 million hourly employees active in the US on our platform, one of the largest and most trusted sources of real-time data on employment growth across the small business landscape.

Data from prior years uses similar cohort-based logic. Unless indicated otherwise, daily figures are calculated relative to the median value for that specific day for the baseline month, net of the first four days of the month.

Every chart on this page is drawn from the underlying figures rather than copied from the PDF. Those figures come from the same model the report is built on, which is refreshed each month as more timesheets land, so a value here may differ slightly from the one printed in the original slide. The PDF stays available above as published.

If you use any content from this report, please include a link to joinhomebase.com.

Measured from timesheets, not surveys

Hourly employees: 2M+
Small businesses: 100K+

Hours worked: Calculated from hours recorded in Homebase timecards.
Businesses open: Based on whether a business had at least one employee clock-in.
Employees working: The distinct number of hourly workers with at least one clock-in.
Wage inflation: The monthly change in average hourly wages at businesses that ran Payroll with Homebase in March 2026 and March 2025.

The story behind the numbers

Read the monthly analysis

Every month the team writes up what these figures mean for the people running the businesses behind them: what changed, what it costs, and what to do about it.

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