labor market for firms of various sizes

Small and large firms 1 have shown different behaviors during the past three economic downturns . In the recession of the early 1990s, there were more net job losses in small firms than in large firms . The 2001 recession showed the op-posite: large firms experienced more net job losses during the downturn and then continued to show net losses into 2003. In the early part of this recession, however, neither group shows a clear majority of job losses. All firm sizes have been similarly affected by the recession.