Number of minority-owned businesses jumps in five years

The number of minority-owned businesses in the U.S. increased nearly 46% to 5.8 million from 2002 to 2007, according to data released Tuesday by the Census Bureau.

In the same time period, the total number of businesses increased 18% to 27.1 million.

The new data come from the Preliminary Estimates of Business Ownership by Gender, Ethnicity, Race and Veteran Status, culled from the census bureau’s 2007 survey of business owners.

The same report found that black-owned businesses rose 60.5%, Native American and Alaska Native-owned businesses climbed a combined 17.9% and the number of Hispanic businesses gained 43.6%.

Other highlights of the report:

• Of the nation’s 27.1 million businesses, roughly 5.8 million had paid employees. These businesses employed 118.7 million people, a 7.1% increase from 2002.

• Of the 5.8 million minority-owned businesses in 2007, an estimated 5 million had no paid employees.

• The number of women-owned businesses totaled 7.8 million in 2007, up 20.1% from 2002. Men-owned businesses totaled 13.9 million, up 5.5% from 2002.

• There were 1.9 million black-owned businesses in 2007, up 60.5%, with 37.6% of them in healthcare and social assistance, repair and maintenance, and personal and laundry services.

Walker writes for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel/McClatchy.