Unemployment Rate Lowest Since January 2009; Small Firms Create Majority of New Jobs
Statement by John Arensmeyer, founder and CEO of Small Business Majority, regarding September jobs reports showing a 0.3 percentage point drop in unemployment driven by small business growth
With September jobs numbers out and the unemployment rate reported today at 7.8 percent, the lowest since January 2009, more than 40 months ago, it's evident our economy is inching closer to recovery and that small businesses are playing a vital role in getting us there. The U.S. Labor Department reported today that the economy added 114,000 new jobs in September. According to data released Thursday by Automatic Data Processing, Inc., which also calculates monthly job figures and breaks them down by company size, small businesses, most notably those with 1-49 employees, continue to create the vast majority of new jobs.
Small firms with fewer than 500 employees were responsible for 90 percent of the new jobs ADP reported being created in September, and the very smallest businesses, those with fewer than 50 employees, created a full 50 percent of all new jobs. Large businesses created 17,000 new jobs, accounting for just 10 percent of growth.
These figures underscore the starring role small businesses have in helping lower the unemployment rate, reported monthly by the Labor Department. As the lowest unemployment rate our nation has seen in several years, September's 7.8 percent rate marks a major step forward for our recovering economy. The economy also added nearly 400,000 more jobs between March 2011 and March 2012 than the Bureau of Labor Statistics originally estimated. Combined with the news that growth estimates have been revised significantly upward for the months of July and August, this further illustrates we're starting to get back on the track to success.
The reports that came out this week help reinforce the role small businesses play as our country's leading job creators. These businesses can and will put our economy back on track, but they can't do it singlehandedly. In light of the recent encouraging news, it's imperative lawmakers keep their focus trained on small business and work to ensure they're well-equipped to help rebuild the economy.
Who is the Small Business Majority?
Small Business Majority is a national small business advocacy organization, founded and run by small business owners, to support America's 28 million small businesses. We conduct extensive opinion and economic research and work with our rapidly growing network of small business owners across the country to ensure their voices are an integral part of the public policy debate. Learn more about us on Wikipedia and follow us on Twitter and Facebook.