Drew White, chief financial officer for the North Carolina software firm Sageworks, says his analysis of anonymous financial returns from thousands of small businesses shows that profit per employee has not yet recovered for many types of firms. He thinks a rebound in profit per employee must precede robust job creation. This chart shows average profit per employee for six broad sectors, from 2006 through 2009.

 

Industry	2006	2007	2008	2009
Construction	$14.581.23	$15,656.77	$13,006.91	$9,520.09
Manufacturing	12,089.43	12,479.41	11,401.24	7,772.45
Wholesale Trade	18,945.42	18,089.04	17,755.95	12,766.38
Retail Trade	9,188.41	9,534.65	9,188.92	9,557.38
Educational Services	11,923.23	14,317.97	11,683.89	8,503.26
Health Care, Social Assistance	21,691.94	22,487.17	19,879.49	20,205.72