Surge in Startups Reported for 2009
Not unexpectedly, the recession led to a big increase in startup businesses in 2009. According to outplacement firm Challenger, Gray and Christmas, start-up activity among jobless managers and executives reached a four-year high in 2009. The percentage of unemployed workers starting their own business rose to an average of 8.6 percent in 2009, according to the latest Challenger Job Market Index.The 2009 average is up 69 percent from 2008, when the start-up rate was 5.1 percent, the lowest annual average in the history of the Index.
The biggest surge in entrepreneurial activity occurred in the third quarter, when 11.8 percent of job seekers started their own firms. That was the highest quarterly figure since the second quarter of 2005. The start-up rate fell to 7.3 percent in the final quarter of the year, but CGH says this is not unusual.
The news isn't all good: The percentage of small and independent […]