MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The nation's unemployment rate may have hit a 26-year high in September

but many small business

owners are getting ready to hire.

The latest Intuit Payroll survey from Intuit

Inc. (Nasdaq:INTU) finds that nearly half of the small business

owners surveyed, 44 percent, are planning

to hire new employees within the next 12 months. At the same time,

many small business owners believe that benefits are key to attracting

new hires but are finding them difficult to afford.

"Economists may have declared the recession over, but on Main Street,

unemployment figures are what really matter," said Nora Denzel, senior

vice president of Intuit's Employee Management Solutions Division, which

helps more than 1 million small businesses easily and affordably manage

their payroll. "There are struggles ahead, nobody is uncorking the

champagne bottle quite yet, but we are starting to see small signs of

optimism."

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