October 2026
At Firms Under Two Years Old, Settled Workers’ Jobs End 1.6 Times as Often. Nearly Nine-Tenths of the Gap Is Jobs That Disappear.
Census data, 2024: at firms 0–1 years old, 13.6% of settled workers’ jobs ended each quarter. At firms 11+ years old, 8.3%. Most of the gap is jobs cut.
Most Employers With Fewer Than 20 People Track No Key Performance Indicators. Half of Those With 1 to 4 Set No Targets.
Census asked U.S. employers how many KPIs they tracked. At firms with 1–4 employees, 72.4% said none. At firms with 500 or more staff: 18.4%.
At Firms With 1 to 4 Employees, Most Lost Jobs Go When a Workplace Closes. At Every Larger Size, Most Go by Shrinking.
Census data, 2013–2022: at firms that began the year with 1–4 employees, 63% of lost jobs went when a workplace closed. At 5–9 employees: 37%.
Under 10 Employees, the Top Problem Is Customers. From 20 Up, It Is Finding and Keeping Staff.
Fed survey: 58% of firms with 1–4 employees named reaching customers as a challenge, 37% named staff. At 50–499 employees, staff led at 64%.
More Than Half of Manufacturing Plants Rarely or Never Move an Underperforming Manager
In Census's 2021 management survey, 55.1% of manufacturing plants rarely or never moved an underperforming manager. For other staff: 44.6%.
Weather Losses Hit Accommodation and Food Service Almost Six Times as Often as Professional Services
Across 21 Census survey rounds, 17.6% of accommodation and food service businesses reported weather losses. Professional services: 3.1%.