According to the U.S.  Census Bureau, there are about 10 million self-employed workers or about 6.6 % of reported jobs.  But these numbers are dropping since the recession.

"The market for self-employment was significantly weakened by the recession.  However, as full-time employment in traditional workplaces continues to improve we expect entrepreneurial opportunities to follow suit with time," says Matt Ferguson, CEO of CareerBuilder and co-author of "The Talent Equation." "A rebound in housing will lead to more growth for independently employed construction and real estate workers as well as other occupations in the supply chain.  Moreover, many high-paying jobs in IT and consulting have already seen positive self-employment growth in recent years."

Self-employed jobs declining while salaried jobs rising

Self-employment jobs have declined 5 percent since 2009.  Since the peak of self-employment in 2006, the U.S.  has lost nearly a million self-employed jobs, a 9 percent decline.  By contrast, the number of jobs for salaried employees -- those who work in traditional work settings -- has risen 4 percent since 2009.

The biggest gains in self-employment have been in lower-wage jobs -- landscaping workers, maids, personal care aides and photographers as noted below.  For higher wage occupations, there is growth in the broad range of computer-related occupations including website designers.

Here are some areas of growth:

Landscaping: up 13%

Maid and housekeeping cleaner : up 9%

Construction laborer : up 10%

Personal care aide: up 18%

Web developer: up 67%

Recreation worker: up 40%

Medical transcriptionist: up 375%

Home health aide: up 22%

Photographer: up 12%

So how do you make these trends work for you? Build a business in which you manage staff to serve these areas of growing service demand! You can do it.

For specific action steps on how to hire the best workers, read Chapter 8 of my book Start On Purpose: Everything You Need to Know and Do to Startup with Strength.  At Amazon at a great price!