A survey of small businesses shows they're not in a mood to hire new employees but are writing bigger checks to the workers already on staff.

SurePayroll, a Skokie, Ill.-based payroll outsourcing firm, polled more than 16,000 clients. Small business hiring decreased .1 percent in the first quarter of 2006 but salaries rose 2.7 percent during the same time.

The average small business salary is $29,918 or 3.3 percent higher than a year ago.

Salary growth has slowed since late 2005, rising just .37 percent in February and March after hikes of .82 percent and nearly 2 percent in December and January, respectively.

Small business hiring declined in March, the seventh month of negative or zero growth. The last hiring increase was in August 2005.

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