More Americans Are Going Into Business For Themselves Due To High Unemployment Rates

According to the Wall Street Journal, the number of Americans who are starting their own businesses every month has jumped considerably over the last couple of years.

The article points out that, according to economist Robert Fairlie at the University of California Santa Cruz, an average of 0.34% of all adults started a new business each month during 2009. This is far above the 0.29% average that was seen from 1998 until the end of 2007. The difference between these two numbers may not sound like all that much until you multiply by hundreds of millions of people.

Not surprisingly, the rise in entrepreneurship in the United States coincides with the increasing national unemployment rate. Many Americans who have gone into business for themselves have been unsuccessful in their quests to find employment, and have now turned to entrepreneurship because they really have no other choice. When the national unemployment rate finally starts to dip (whenever that is), the rate at which Americans go into business for themselves will likely drop as well.

The Internet has made it even easier for people to go into business for themselves. Whether it's starting a blog, selling a product online or hawking items on Ebay, the Internet has allowed people to become entrepreneurs without having to incur large start-up costs.

With the national unemployment rate expected to average about 10% in 2011, I wouldn't be surprised to see an even higher number of Americans go into business for themselves. Some of the most important businesses of the next 50 years are being hatched right now by out-of-work Americans who are desperate to feed themselves and their families.





Source: WSJ.com - Number of the Week: More Entrepreneurs, Fewer Jobs

Filed under: General Knowledge