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Job growth at small businesses, 1992–2013

May 12, 2014

May 12 is the first day of Small Business Week. Small businesses and the jobs they create are perennially favorite topics for many people interested in the economy. How big are the job gains and job losses at small businesses? Between the third quarter of 1992 and the third quarter of 2013, small firms (those with 99 or fewer employees) accounted for 41.8 percent of the net employment change.

 

 
Quarterly net employment change by firm size class, third quarter 1992–third quarter 2013, seasonally adjusted
3 months endedTotal, all firm sizes1 to 45 to 910 to 1920 to 4950 to 99100 to 249250 to 499500 to 9991,000 or more

Sep 1992

654,00072,00041,00061,00098,00071,00060,00037,00025,000189,000

Dec 1992

188,00017,00031,00027,00043,00037,00049,00025,00020,000-61,000

Mar 1993

302,00046,0002,0007,00029,00038,00065,00038,00042,00035,000

Jun 1993

726,00063,00054,00059,00076,00054,00071,00058,00067,000224,000

Sep 1993

1,001,000120,00077,00096,000134,000104,000122,00077,00044,000227,000

Dec 1993

611,00037,00060,00071,000116,00087,00097,00060,00055,00028,000

Mar 1994

554,00033,00018,00038,00065,00062,00082,00063,00052,000141,000

Jun 1994

905,00061,00046,00055,00089,00071,000102,00085,00060,000336,000

Sep 1994

1,321,000131,000100,000126,000183,000128,000143,00085,00082,000343,000

Dec 1994

475,000-9,00024,00045,00080,00075,000101,00062,00055,00042,000

Mar 1995

782,00074,00043,00057,000102,00086,00094,00057,00053,000216,000

Jun 1995

363,00044,00020,00021,00020,00019,00038,00024,00030,000147,000

Sep 1995

900,00033,00038,00065,000117,00087,00098,00061,00080,000321,000

Dec 1995

360,00016,00034,00042,00078,00065,00085,00057,00023,000-40,000

Mar 1996

565,00052,00029,00043,00076,00054,00059,00027,00011,000214,000

Jun 1996

650,00057,00033,00029,00022,00020,00030,00057,00053,000349,000

Sep 1996

735,00080,00043,00060,00088,00063,00094,00052,00051,000204,000

Dec 1996

797,00028,00050,00070,000112,00094,000120,00068,00062,000193,000

Mar 1997

889,00087,00057,00072,000116,00081,00079,00060,00024,000313,000

Jun 1997

623,00038,00025,00025,00024,00034,00067,00056,00041,000313,000

Sep 1997

963,00029,00036,00063,000116,00092,000126,00060,00068,000373,000

Dec 1997

653,000-3,00027,00046,00080,00065,00087,00074,00061,000216,000

Mar 1998

916,00057,00022,00030,00049,00056,00084,00072,00079,000467,000

Jun 1998

610,000121,00065,00063,00056,00025,00038,00013,00015,000214,000

Sep 1998

809,00020,0009,00030,00053,00050,00076,00057,00052,000462,000

Dec 1998

693,00016,00050,00068,000124,00089,00097,00063,00041,000145,000

Mar 1999

514,00069,00037,00026,00032,00029,00023,0003,00014,000281,000

Jun 1999

622,00014,00021,00036,00060,00042,00069,00043,00043,000294,000

Sep 1999

618,00017,00026,00050,00080,00063,00072,00046,00041,000223,000

Dec 1999

957,00043,00068,00096,000137,00096,000129,00083,00077,000228,000

Mar 2000

910,00087,00063,00064,00094,00082,000109,00087,00071,000253,000

Jun 2000

460,00012,0001,0007,00023,00031,00049,00036,00046,000255,000

Sep 2000

316,0008,0009,00020,00039,00041,00051,00021,00025,000102,000

Dec 2000

266,000-2,000-3,0009,00029,00020,00040,00020,00011,000142,000

Mar 2001

52,00013,0007,0009,000-6,000-29,000-58,000-51,000-24,000191,000

Jun 2001

-843,0004,000-12,000-36,000-79,000-75,000-105,000-91,000-86,000-363,000

Sep 2001

-1,214,000-56,000-50,000-59,000-106,000-107,000-146,000-116,000-114,000-460,000

Dec 2001

-1,041,00010,000-17,000-34,000-77,000-87,000-113,000-90,000-86,000-547,000

Mar 2002

70,00029,00021,0009,000-5,000-22,000-30,000-9,000-19,00096,000

Jun 2002

-61,00051,00016,0004,000-2,0004,000-11,000-18,000-20,000-85,000

Sep 2002

-176,00035,0008,000-2,000-21,000-20,000-26,000-16,000-12,000-122,000

Dec 2002

-247,00023,0003,000-7,000-22,000-35,000-38,000-26,000-18,000-127,000

Mar 2003

-326,000-7,000-25,000-40,000-63,000-30,000-26,000-21,000-22,000-92,000

Jun 2003

-137,00041,00030,00020,00021,000-6,000-20,000-20,000-33,000-170,000

Sep 2003

193,00045,00026,00027,00022,0008,00013,0004,000048,000

Dec 2003

310,00052,00022,00033,00039,00016,00016,00023,0009,000100,000

Mar 2004

430,00046,00026,00026,00055,00058,00079,00040,00030,00070,000

Jun 2004

621,00035,00020,00039,00075,00070,00071,00037,00047,000227,000

Sep 2004

197,00027,00016,00017,00028,00032,00056,00038,0009,000-26,000

Dec 2004

759,00093,00048,00056,00077,00039,00062,00039,00045,000300,000

Mar 2005

368,00012,0006,00013,00035,00037,00060,00045,00021,000139,000

Jun 2005

570,00064,00035,00055,00089,00071,00075,00050,00047,00084,000

Sep 2005

701,00071,00042,00046,00059,00036,00049,00050,00058,000290,000

Dec 2005

506,00084,00022,00029,00034,00020,00025,00021,0004,000267,000

Mar 2006

788,00063,00055,00078,000138,00097,000125,00075,00066,00091,000

Jun 2006

375,00020,00013,00023,00061,00045,00065,00049,00042,00057,000

Sep 2006

43,000-7,000-3,000-4,000018,0009,00017,00010,0003,000

Dec 2006

447,00052,00012,00019,00034,00031,00043,0005,00021,000230,000

Mar 2007

466,00027,00039,00051,00072,00041,00058,00033,00044,000101,000

Jun 2007

174,000-42,000-19,0001,00029,00041,00067,00048,00031,00018,000

Sep 2007

-269,000-17,000-25,000-42,000-48,000-20,000-33,000-13,000-9,000-62,000

Dec 2007

298,00011,000-12,000-1,00010,00018,00045,00031,00016,000180,000

Mar 2008

-290,000-72,000-32,000-22,000-28,000-13,000-1,0001,000-4,000-119,000

Jun 2008

-548,000-107,000-63,000-58,000-56,000-27,000-14,000-19,000-23,000-181,000

Sep 2008

-999,000-91,000-65,000-76,000-114,000-66,000-85,000-47,000-60,000-395,000

Dec 2008

-1,869,000-146,000-144,000-168,000-237,000-177,000-197,000-124,000-110,000-566,000

Mar 2009

-2,664,000-233,000-175,000-218,000-357,000-284,000-331,000-213,000-184,000-669,000

Jun 2009

-1,764,000-114,000-94,000-106,000-158,000-123,000-154,000-116,000-131,000-768,000

Sep 2009

-940,000-128,000-63,000-74,000-109,000-55,000-63,000-56,000-40,000-352,000

Dec 2009

-289,000-6,000-44,000-55,000-57,000-29,000-14,000-16,000-18,000-50,000

Mar 2010

-240,000-91,000-38,000-34,000-35,000-5,0002,00019,00012,000-70,000

Jun 2010

692,00026,00029,00061,000122,00090,000119,00069,00056,000120,000

Sep 2010

188,000-7,0005,0007,00018,00036,00043,00037,00035,00014,000

Dec 2010

519,00051,0007,0004,00023,00030,00065,00051,00041,000247,000

Mar 2011

313,000-18,00016,00038,00057,00055,00063,00045,00029,00028,000

Jun 2011

548,000-3,00035,00060,000104,00077,00099,00056,00031,00089,000

Sep 2011

823,00076,00054,00050,00079,00071,00090,00062,00073,000268,000

Dec 2011

321,00028,000-5,000016,00016,00029,00031,00022,000184,000

Mar 2012

846,00054,00085,000108,000138,000100,000117,00077,00064,000103,000

Jun 2012

604,00016,00020,00048,00094,00076,00091,00072,00060,000127,000

Sep 2012

213,00017,00014,0009,0009,00020,00024,00024,00031,00065,000

Dec 2012

637,00075,00021,00026,00047,00035,00055,00050,00031,000297,000

Mar 2013

1,198,00069,00046,00071,00095,00070,00086,00054,00070,000637,000

Jun 2013

643,00023,00034,00059,000101,00062,00081,00049,00041,000193,000

Sep 2013

386,00047,00042,00032,00033,00020,00034,00018,00032,000128,000

Average net employment change by firm size, third quarter 1992–third quarter 2013, seasonally adjusted

285,00021,00015,00021,00034,00028,00038,00024,00020,00084,000

 

During the 3 months that ended September 2013, there was a net increase of 386,000 jobs. Small firms were responsible for 174,000, while firms with 100 or more employees increased their total employment by 212,000.

Over the span of the Business Employment Dynamics time series, small firms showed significantly higher levels of both gross job gains and job losses than large firms. High rates of gross job gains and losses show evidence of more turnover and volatility in small firms.

Small firms experienced more net job losses in the recession of the early 1990s than large firms did, and the opposite was true in the 2001 recession. During the recession that began in December 2007, neither group experienced a clear majority of job losses—firms of all sizes were similarly affected.

These data are from the Business Employment Dynamics (BDM) program. For more data like these, see National Business Employment Dynamics Data by Firm Size Class.

SUGGESTED CITATION

Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, The Economics Daily, Job growth at small businesses, 1992–2013 at https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2014/ted_20140512.htm (visited September 13, 2024).

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