U.S. Census Shows Sharp Rise in the Self Employed

The number of businesses without employees (self-employed individuals) grew 4.5 percent to 21.7 million in 2007, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. More than 19 million (88 percent) were sole proprietorships, 1.4 million were corporations and 1.2 million were partnerships.

The census data shows that one-third of nonemployer businesses, and more than 40 percent of total receipts were in three economic sectors:

1. real estate services
2. professional, technical and scientific services
3. specialty trade contractors

The strongest nonemployer business growth was acheived by those starting a Georgia business, followed by Alabama and North Carolina.

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