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By Oregon Small Business Association Foundation,
Despite bleak economic news on many fronts, Oregon ranked in the top 10 for small businesses as determined by Homebase [6], a San Francisco-based software company. The report indicates Oregon saw the number of employees working for small businesses increase by 4.4 percent and the hours they worked jumped by 9.8 percent. Oregon ranks among the highest states in pay for employees with an average hourly wage of $15.66. The best state for small business was New York followed by California, New Jersey, Vermont, Florida, Georgia, Pennsylvania, South Dakota and North Carolina. Oregon ranked 10th, but ahead of Illinois and Washington. The hospitality industry in Oregon also increased.