Despite continued economic gloom, the UK witnessed an 11% increase in staff numbers for small employers during May-July 2012.
The news follows continued efforts by the government and UK companies to improve both the UK's economic output and the UK's unemployment figures.
The Confederation of British Industry’s quarterly report SME Trends Survey, released today, also showed manufacturing output had fallen among the UK’s small and medium-sized manufacturers.
Lucy Armstrong, chair of the CBI’s SME Council, said the increase in staff numbers was "one of the few bright spots in an otherwise muted picture".
However, employers warned the hiring spree was unlikely to continue into the next three months, as export orders fell slightly in the quarter to July (-4%), while domestic orders were almost flat (+2%).
Both export and domestic orders are expected to fall over the coming three months (balances of -12% and -5% respectively).
"Challenging domestic conditions, continuing uncertainty over the Eurozone, and a broader loss of momentum in global growth, are clearly taking their toll on the UK’s smaller manufacturers," Armstrong continued.
“Production has fallen over the last three months and sentiment has deteriorated, while growth in demand has stalled, with little improvement expected in the coming quarter."
The government hopes its £80bn Funding for Lending scheme, launched last Wednesday, and a further £50bn of quantitative easing - a policy where the Bank of England prints extra money to increase liquidity for the banking sector - announced in July will increase the availability of credit for small businesses and drive output.
However, business secretary Vince Cable told the BBC last month that while quantitative easing was necessary, it wasn't "sufficient", adding the money "just does not get through to companies".