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Small business employment growth statewide outpaces nation
Small business employment growth statewide outpaces nation
Small business employment rose by 9.2 percent in New York State between 2011 and 2016, slightly outpacing the national increase of 8.9 percent, a new report from state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli shows.
Using U.S. Census Bureau data, the report shows that New York’s small businesses provided more than 4.1 million jobs in the state in 2016, just over half of all private sector jobs in New York.
Small businesses provided more than $212 billion in payroll, nearly 40 percent of the total private sector payroll in the state.
“Small businesses have a substantial financial impact in every region of the state and helped fuel New York’s recent job gains and economic growth,” DiNapoli said in a statement. “These businesses, however, face a variety of challenges in a continually changing marketplace and the competitive demands of a global economy. The success of small businesses is vital to the health of our communities and the economy.”
Small businesses are those with fewer than 500 employees, according to the U.S. Small Business Administration’s definition. Among the more than 465,000 businesses in New York in 2016, 99 percent were small businesses. Nearly two-thirds of those had fewer than five staffers, and more than 81 percent had fewer than 10 employees.
DiNapoli’s report found that the smallest firms statewide, those with four or fewer employees, provided nearly 488,000 jobs with total payroll of $23.3 billion. Three industry sectors—trade, professional services and leisure activities—account for nearly half of all small businesses in the state.
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