NY report: Hiring by small businesses topped national pace

A new report says small businesses across New York state have increased employment slightly faster than the national pace.

The report released Tuesday by state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli examined the five-year period from 2011 through 2016 and was based on the most recent data available from the U.S. Census Bureau.

DiNapoli says the report found that small business employment rose by 9.2 percent in New York, compared to an 8.9 percent increase across the nation.

According to the research, small businesses provided more than 4.1 million jobs in the state in 2016, just over half of all private-sector jobs in New York.

The report says small businesses provided more than $212 billion in payroll. That's nearly 40 percent of the total private-sector payroll in the state.