KANSAS CITY, MO – Entrepreneurship is alive and well in the wake of the Great Recession, although the rate of new business creation dipped during 2011 and startup founders remained more likely to fly solo than employ others. That's the big take away from the "Kauffman Index of Entrepreneurial Activity," a leading indicator of new business creation in the United States published annually and released today by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation.
The Index shows that 0.32 percent of American adults created a business per month in 2011 – a 5.9 percent drop from 2010, but still among the highest levels of entrepreneurship over the past 16 years. The quarterly employer firm rate also remained essentially flat from 2010 to 2011 at 0.11 percent.
"The Great Recession has pushed many individuals into business ownership due to high unemployment rates," said Robert Litan, vice president of research and policy at the Kauffman Foundation. "However, economic uncertainty likely has made them more cautious, and they prefer to start sole proprietorships rather than more costly employer firms. This 'jobless entrepreneurship' trend negatively effects job creation and the larger economic recovery."
Entrepreneurship growth was highest among 45- to 54-year-olds, rising from 0.35 percent in 2010 to 0.37 percent in 2011. The youngest group (aged 20 to 34) also showed a slight increase. In contrast, the 35- to 44-year-old and 55- to 64-year-old groups experienced declines in entrepreneurial activity rates from 2010 to 2011.