Small Business Creates America's Jobs

October 29, 2007; 06:58 AM
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Small business continued to create America's new jobs in 2004, according to the latest data. The updated United States Small Business Profile released by the Office of Advocacy of the U.S. Small Business Administration shows that small businesses added 1.9 million net new jobs during the latest year studied.

“Small businesses are America’s job-creating dynamo,” said Dr. Chad Moutray, Chief Economist for the Office of Advocacy.  “Clearly policymakers need to consider their impact on small business when they are making policy decisions.”

Updated data and statistics on America’s small businesses are available at www.sba.gov/advo/research/profiles.  The updated profile also shows that:

  *  In 2006, the nation had an estimated 26.8 million small businesses, of which 6.1 milion were employer firms.

  *  Small businesses employed 50.9 percent of the nation’s non-farm private workforce in 2004.

  *  America had 1.1 million Asian-owned firms, 1.2 million Black-owned firms, 1.6 million Hispanic-owned firms, 201,400 Native American-owned firms, and 28,900 Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander-owned firms in 2002 (latest data).  (Note: cannot be totaled, as business owners chose multiple ethnic and racial categories).

  *  Women-owned firms totaled 6.5 million and generated $940.8 billion in revenues in 2002 (latest data).

The Office of Advocacy, the “small business watchdog” of the federal government, examines the role and status of small business in the economy and independently represents the views of small business to federal agencies, Congress, and the President.  It is the source for small business statistics presented in user-friendly formats, and it funds research into small business issues.

For more information and a copy of all the state and territory small business profiles, visit the Office of Advocacy website at www.sba.gov/advo.