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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.
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.
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.
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 October 06, 2024).