Final answer:
Slightly less than half of all businesses in the United States are considered small.
Step-by-step explanation:
Slightly less than half of all the workers in private firms are at the 17,000 large firms, meaning they employ more than 500 workers. Another 35% of workers in the U.S. economy are at firms with fewer than 100 workers. These small-scale businesses include everything from dentists and lawyers to businesses that mow lawns or clean houses. Table 7.1 does not include a separate category for the millions of small “non-employer" businesses where a single owner or a few partners are not officially paid wages or a salary, but simply receive whatever they can earn.