The loss of jobs at client companies helped push Paychex revenue to $496.6 million for the second quarter ended November 30, down 5 percent from $524.2 million a year earlier. And the company reiterated its view that continued economic weakness would leave its revenue for the year ending May 31 off by 2 percent to 5 percent. However, CEO Jonathan Judge issued a statement that key indicators were stable for the second straight quarter.

But net income dropped to $125.9 million for the most recently ended quarter, a decrease of 10 percent  from $140.2 million a year earlier. The economy also hurt results because interest rates sharply reduced earnings on funds held for clients and investment income, which dropped to $13.6 million, a 31 percent decline from just under $20 million a year ago.

Payroll service revenue, the biggest single source of income, fell to $350.8 million in the most recently ended period, down 7 percent from $376.1 million.The economy hurt payroll in two ways: First checks per client declined by 3.7 percent for the quarter, compared to last year, although that was better than the 5 percent year-over-year decline for the first quarter. Meanwhile, the slow pace of new business formations meant fewer new clients.