Latest Small Business Snapshot: Businesses and Employees

November 9, 2007 | Anita Campbell

The SBA Office of Advocacy has come out with an updated annual snapshot of small businesses in the United States (PDF).

This chart shows the number of small businesses, the industries they are in, and the number of employees (click chart to open larger image):

In reading this chart remember these points:

“Nonemployer firms” means single-person small businesses — ones without any employees, except the owner of course.
If you want to see the true picture of employment for firms with fewer than 100 employees, add together the non-employer column and the column under “Employment - 1 to 99 employees” — or 62,231,000 for all industries. Why? Because you have to consider employment for both the owner and employees — you can’t ignore the owner in a single-person business for purposes of counting employment. Self-employment is a form of employment from the business.
Do not be surprised by the fact that the chart uses data from 2004 - 2005. Hey, in government terms that’s considered hot off the presses in 2007.

Comments

2 Comments so far

Information About the Small Business Market » Small Business Trends | small business experts on November 11, 2007 9:59 pm
[…] Latest Small Business Snapshot: Businesses and Employees – Check out this brief look at the latest available U.S. statistics. The snapshot describes the numbers of small businesses, broken down by industry categories, and the numbers of employees they employ. […]
EJMalyn on November 19, 2007 9:40 pm
The latest! How about…very late. That’s are goverment for you.