The Small Business Administration has said that the federal government has missed its goal of small business contracting against this year, recording seven straight years of missed goals.

According to the federal law, the US government should try to award 23 per cent of federal contracts to small businesses. The condition is a target for the government but it is not mandatory to achieve the goal. The data showed that the government had missed its small business contracting targets every year since 2006.

According to the data released by the Small Business Administration, the federal government awarded $89.9 billion in contracts to small businesses during 2012 financial year, which is about 22.25 per cent of total contracts. The government had awarded 21.65 per cent of the total or about $91.5 billion in contracts to small businesses during 2011.

Representative Sam Graves, the head of the House Small Business Committee said that the government should make contracting goals "a priority because it is efficient governance, and not just a law that makes small businesses feel good. Improving small business opportunities through federal contracts creates jobs and saves taxpayer money because small businesses bring competition, innovation and lower prices."