As the U.S. economy gains momentum heading into 2011, small-business employment is lagging behind other drivers of the recovery, Bloomberg reported. Though past economic rebounds were led by companies with fewer than 500 people adding full-time workers, some owners say they’ll rely on part-time help and push their staffs to be more productive as they wait as much as a year for demand to improve. This has helped keep unemployment near a quarter-century high, even as household purchases have risen for five straight months, Bloomberg said. “I’m not sure we’ll ever return to the type of full employment we’ve had in the past,” said Charles McMillion, president and chief economist at forecasting firm MBG Information Services.