ROCHESTER, N.Y. – The economy took a chunk out of Paychex’s operations for the first quarter ended August 31 as net income fell 17 percent on a 5-percent decline in revenue. However, the company saw signs business is improving as the recently ended period was the first in four sequential quarters in which there was not a decline in checks per clients. Executives were optimistic that the worst is over, given the combination of general economic and internal company indicators.