I was reading a WSJ OpEd piece that hit home for me. Robert Wilmers of M&T Bank had the stats that I suspected but pulled them together.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statics, since 2009 the pace of small business start-ups has fallen to the lowest level in 22 years. This is discouraging news for the job market.
In the 1980’s small businesses (defined as less than 100 employees) generated 58% of new jobs in the US. This fell in the 1990’s to 49%. Today the estimate is that 31%.
Fewer new small businesses means fewer jobs created. Robert Wilmers believes that the anemic recovery is based upon this lack of small businesses. I have to agree with him.
The SBA also seems to be processing fewer loans by half of what they have done in the past. The high fee structure and the requirements are geared towards more sophisticated business owners. The loan amounts seem to be greater that $2mm. Not exactly the small business as most people envision it.
With the Republican tax plan anti-small business and the Democrats not being small business friendly with the minimum rate hike to $15. It will be interesting to see what happens next.