Small Businesses: This is for YOU!

This week is National Small Business Week, which recognizes the critical contributions of America’s small business owners and workers to our economy. The U.S. economy is fueled by small businesses, which employ about 69 million workers!

Here at the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, we work closely with small businesses every day in two main ways:

• Small businesses participate in our voluntary statistical surveys, so thanks for your cooperation!
• BLS data help small businesses make smart decisions.

To celebrate Small Business Week, this blog shares some information about small businesses in our current economy and some testimonials from small business owners who use BLS data.

What is a small business?

We define small establishments as establishments with fewer than 100 workers. What is an establishment? It’s the physical location of an economic activity—for example, a factory, mine, store, or office. An establishment is not necessarily a firm; it may be a branch plant, for example, or a warehouse. Thus, small establishments may include a “mom and pop” grocery store or a small storage facility.

What is the source of these data?

Each quarter we publish counts of employment and wages reported by employers. These counts, from the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages, cover more than 97 percent of U.S. jobs. We have detail available at the county, metropolitan area, state, and national levels by industry.

So the quarterly census doesn’t cover every worker in the United States, but it is very close!

How many small businesses are there and how many people do they employ?

Editor’s note: Data for this chart are available in the table below.

Highlights:

• About 69 million workers—57 percent of all private sector workers—were employed in over 9 million small establishments during March 2017.
• Small establishments make up over 97 percent of all establishments in the nation. The remaining establishments (181,000), those with 100 or more workers, employed over 51 million workers.
• A whopping 62 percent of establishments fall within the smallest size class, fewer than 5 employees.

In what industries do we find small businesses?

Editor’s note: Data for this chart are available in the table below.

Highlights:

• Employment in small establishments varies among industries.
• Real estate and rental and leasing, construction, and wholesale trade have much of their employment in small establishments. It’s more than 80 percent in real estate and rental and leasing.
• In contrast, 36 percent of manufacturing employment and 43 percent of transportation and warehousing employment are in small establishments.

Want to learn more about small businesses? Check out the most recent news release to get all the latest numbers. See our Frequently Asked Questions, or contact us at (202) 691-6567 or by email.

Thank you, small businesses, for your participation and know that we are here to help you in your statistical needs. Happy Small Business Week!