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Job gains among startup firms in 2017

November 16, 2017

The number of startup firms—firms that are 1 year old or newer—rose to 415,226 in the year ended March 2017. The number of new firms has recovered from a low of 326,091 in 2010. For the last 2 years, the number of startups has been above the 1994–2017 average of about 400,000.

 

 

Number of firms that are 1 year old or newer
Year Number of startups

1994

403,747

1995

421,332

1996

414,526

1997

427,673

1998

413,081

1999

408,632

2000

417,515

2001

406,209

2002

393,383

2003

404,899

2004

405,851

2005

430,869

2006

457,223

2007

437,551

2008

402,845

2009

342,036

2010

326,091

2011

347,100

2012

366,887

2013

366,301

2014

371,670

2015

396,487

2016

413,634

2017

415,226

From March 2016 to March 2017, startup firms gained 1.7 million jobs. That compares with about 336,000 jobs for older firms.

 

 

Contributions to employment change by age of firm
Year Firms 1 year old or newer Firms older than 1 year Total employment change

1994

2,052,487 689,743 2,742,230

1995

2,132,519 1,181,106 3,313,625

1996

2,068,992 -112,086 1,956,906

1997

2,146,878 737,195 2,884,073

1998

2,075,092 752,575 2,827,667

1999

2,037,189 449,383 2,486,572

2000

2,153,862 831,149 2,985,011

2001

1,967,544 -1,106,903 860,641

2002

1,896,406 -4,600,001 -2,703,595

2003

1,870,461 -2,566,178 -695,717

2004

1,854,248 -956,919 897,329

2005

1,949,993 53,269 2,003,262

2006

1,992,200 609,392 2,601,592

2007

1,878,090 -363,512 1,514,578

2008

1,733,028 -1,622,047 110,981

2009

1,451,779 -7,272,694 -5,820,915

2010

1,382,440 -4,066,628 -2,684,188

2011

1,463,497 445,415 1,908,912

2012

1,561,894 1,107,440 2,669,334

2013

1,550,425 570,475 2,120,900

2014

1,571,593 702,796 2,274,389

2015

1,648,693 1,069,273 2,717,966

2016

1,692,106 819,483 2,511,589

2017

1,716,646 335,696 2,052,342

Startups contribute significantly to overall changes in employment. As older firms close or reduce jobs during economic downturns, startups continue to create employment opportunities. The job gains of startups partly offset job losses by older firms during recessions.

These data are from the Business Employment Dynamics program. Startup firms are firms that opened between March of one year and March of the previous year. For more information, see Research Data on Business Employment Dynamics by Age and Size.

SUGGESTED CITATION

Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, The Economics Daily, Job gains among startup firms in 2017 at https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2017/job-gains-among-startup-firms-in-2017.htm (visited March 18, 2024).

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