Bruce Merrifield

Jobless Claims Not in Recession Territory Yet

The U.S. has about 30 million incorporated businesses (up from 4.6 million in 1982) of which about 98% have less than 100 employees. The payroll data come from large companies which now account for only about 1/3rd of the U.S. GDP. Small business account for a rising 2/3rds of the GDP. But this is where the new jobs, new innovations and new household wealth are generated ($59 trillion up from $3 trillion in 1982, and up another $3 trillion in 2007) Since 1982, the U.S generated about 90 million new jobs, most of them in these small businesses, while losing about 40 million in downsizing and restructuring a whole bunch of famous corporate names. Our Labor Department data are no longer accurate, and the Europeans call this entrepreneurial revolution the "American Miracle."