New York SBDC Research Network

From MarketingProfs Most small business owners worked a full-time job while starting their own firm, according to recent research from Paychex. The report was based on data from a survey of 413 people in the United States who own a business that has fewer than 500 employees. Some 59% of respondents say they worked a full-time job while initially building their own business. The reasons small business owners started their own firms range widely by industry, the survey found.

Everyone deserves the opportunity to have an occupation that provides a decent standard of living. Increasingly, earning a middle class income requires that workers have a post-secondary credential and regularly upgrade their skills. The recession accelerated this occupational transformation.  For the nation’s economic well-being, workers and their communities need to adjust to the new realities of the labor market. However, evidence suggests a growing mismatch between worker capabilities and employer needs. Left unchecked, this gap will impair the economic health of the nation and its workforce. To address this issue, U.S. labor markets require access to current, accurate, detailed statistics. Labor market participants—individuals, educators, and employers—and policymakers at all levels of government need good data to make informed choices about, for example, career paths, training programs, hiring, and public investments. At present, however, labor market participants and policy

From the Bureau of Labor Statistics

On Monday, Roger and I attended a workshop on information sources for labor statistics. Sponsored by the Capital District Business Librarians, James Ross, the NYS Department of Labors’ Regional Labor Market Analyst for the Capital Region, discussed the wild world of statistics available on the NYS Labor Department website . There’s a lot here, but it is not always easy to get to. Here are just a few things that I found interesting: Most of us are familiar with the occupational outlook reports available from the U.S. Department of Labor, which offers descriptive job outlooks for a variety of occupations. The NYS DOL provides more detailed and local statistics, offering a ten year forecast for more than 700 occupations, listed by their SOC code . Available statewide and by region, these tables list the current employment figures for that field, projected employment numbers for ten years later, with growth and replacement figures. For those less inclined to crunch the numbers, the o