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Small businesses continue to outpace large businesses in job creation
May 08, 2025
Between the first quarter of 2021 and the second quarter of 2024, small businesses (firms with 249 or fewer employees) made up 52.8 percent of the total net job creation in the United States.
Quarterly net employment change by firm size, September 2020 to June 2024, seasonally adjusted
3 months ended
Small firms
Large firms
Total
Sep 2020
2,070,000
1,979,000
4,049,000
Dec 2020
846,000
1,024,000
1,870,000
Mar 2021
1,188,000
616,000
1,804,000
Jun 2021
949,000
66,000
1,015,000
Sep 2021
663,000
782,000
1,445,000
Dec 2021
1,372,000
1,382,000
2,754,000
Mar 2022
578,000
1,055,000
1,633,000
Jun 2022
324,000
5,000
329,000
Sep 2022
339,000
1,055,000
1,394,000
Dec 2022
354,000
121,000
475,000
Mar 2023
648,000
491,000
1,139,000
Jun 2023
163,000
141,000
304,000
Sep 2023
-112,000
6,000
-106,000
Dec 2023
367,000
-26,000
341,000
Mar 2024
176,000
406,000
582,000
Jun 2024
-202,000
-25,000
-227,000
Note: Small firms are firms with 249 or fewer employees; large firms, 250 or more.
Small firms had uninterrupted net employment gains for 3 years, from June 2020 until the third quarter of 2023. In fact, small firms accounted for 324,000, or 98.5 percent, of the 329,000 net job increase in the second quarter of 2022. Net employment at large firms (those with 250 or more employees) increased 5,000 in that quarter. Even the smallest firms (with 1 to 4 employees) had larger employment gains than the large firms.
Despite slowed growth in the second quarter of 2024, small businesses continue to make up a larger proportion of total net job creation.
United States Department of Labor
