New Report from SBA Documents Impact of Small Business on US Economy
In a study partially funded by the SBA Office of Advocacy, small businesses represent 99.7 percent of all firms, create more than half of the private non-farm gross domestic product, and generate 60 to 80 percent of the net new jobs.
Additional details include the following: In 2004, there were an estimated 23,974,500 businesses in the United States. Of the 5,683,700 firms with employees, 5,666,600 were small firms (fewer than 500 employees). Newly available data from the Census Bureau show that in 2002 women owned 6,492,795 firms; Blacks owned 1,197,988 firms; Hispanics owned 1,574,159 firms; Asians owned 1,105,329 firms; American Indians and Alaska Natives owned 206,125 firms; and Native Hawaiians and other Pacific Islanders owned 32,299 firms.
Proprietors’ income, a partial measure of small business income, showed strong growth of 7.3 percent in 2004. Business bankruptcies decreased by 2.1 percent, and self-employment increased by 2.2 percent.
