South By North Strategies, Ltd.

Random Samplings, the blog of the U.S. Census Bureau, notes that, due largely to the recession, the U.S. lost 260,000 non-employer businesses between 2008 and 2009. Businesses without employees (e.g., independent consultancies and “mom and pop” retail stores) account for the overwhelming majority of the nation’s small business establishments.

The U.S. contained 21.1 million non-employer firms in 2009. Of those firms, 18.7 million were organized as sole proprietorships, 1.4 million as corporations, and 1.0 million as partnerships.