Small firms outstripped big ones during recession

America's small businesses weathered the recession better than large businesses. A new study by the Small Business Administration (SBA) concludes that while 1982 was ''a difficult year'' for the nation's 13 million small businesses, ''overall declines in sales, profits, and employment were not as damaging to the small-business sector as they were to large businesses.''

The SBA study noted that small firms are more heavily represented in wholesale trade, retail trade, and services - sectors of the economy that usually decline less severly during a recession.