Small Business Facts

Experts often use patenting activity as a proxy for innovation. Data from the National Science Foundation show that small businesses that engage in R&D generate more patents per employee than larger businesses that engage in R&D.…

The Office of Advocacy’s Spring Economic Bulletin examines how small businesses continue to recover from the COVID-19 recession. Recent trends show small businesses have weathered the pandemic, but new challenges have arisen. Currently,…

New data from the U.S. Census Bureau indicates that the tightening labor market is disproportionately impacting smaller businesses. 23.4 percent of small businesses cited labor needs in August 2020, which increased to over 40 percent at…

Despite losing 9.1 million jobs in the first two quarters of 2020, small businesses job growth rebounded swiftly following the COVID-19 recession. In the four quarters following, small businesses have gained 5.5 million jobs, making up for…

The Office of Advocacy’s bi-annual Economic Bulletin examines new data on how small businesses have recovered since the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic. Both self-employment and proprietor income have recovered…

Equally-owned businesses, which are businesses half owned by men and half owned by women, totaled 860,754 employers in 2018. These businesses employed 7,970,121 workers, generated $1.3 trillion in annual sales receipt, and paid $280…

On average, the self-employed are wealthier than the non-self employed and are significantly wealthier than workers and retirees.  According to 2019 data from the Federal Reserve,  business ownership is an important source of family …

As the COVID-19 pandemic evolves, small businesses are struggling to obtain the goods they need to operate, impacting their recovery. 37.2% of small businesses reported having domestic supplier delays in the second week of June 2021 and…

There were roughly 12 million women-owned businesses in 2017, with $388.1 billion in payroll and 10.1 million employees. However, women remain underrepresented in small business ownership. For more information on women small business…

The Office of Advocacy’s bi-annual Economic Bulletin  examines new data on how small businesses have fared during the COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic caused an economic shock, which led to business closures and job losses. However, there…