Nevada’s small businesses set new employment record

As of the third quarter of 2016, employment in Nevada’s firms with fewer than 100 employees totaled 606,000, a new all-time record. Prior to the recession, small business employment peaked at just over 585,000 in the fourth quarter of 2007, but fell to 510,000 as the economic downturn unfolded. Nearly 100,000 jobs have been added to small business payrolls since the recovery began. “Small businesses continue to make a significant contribution to the Silver State’s recovery,” said Tim Wilcox, an economist with the Research and Analysis Bureau of Nevada’s Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation. “Jobs have risen practically nonstop since the end of the recession.” Total seasonally adjusted nonfarm jobs reached a new all-time high of 1.32 million in January. At its pre-recessionary peak, small businesses accounted for 52 percent of total private sector employment, Wilcox said. The most recent information shows that employment in small establishments now represents 53 percent of the total.