Millions of people throughout the United States filed applications to start businesses during the second year of the coronavirus pandemic that has disrupted the economy.
Roughly 5.4 million applications were filed during 2021, an 53% increase over the 3.5 million in 2019 when the health crisis was just getting underway, data released Monday from the U.S. Census Bureau show. The number is also a jump above the 4.4 million applications in 2020, and data show that in the first month of this year, around 430,411 business applications were filed, a 2.6% increase from December.
4.2M WORKERS QUIT JOBS IN OCTOBER, THIRD-HIGHEST NUMBER ON RECORD
The Department of Labor released data on Jan. 4 showing that roughly 4.5 million people quit their jobs in November, an increase from 4.2 million who quit their jobs in October. Roughly 4.3 million people quit their jobs in August, and 4.4 million people left their jobs in September.
A July survey from Digital.com showed that 44% of people quit their jobs for better pay, 41% quit their jobs to work in a field they were more passionate about, and 42% of people wanted to focus on their health. Meanwhile, 32% said they had quit their jobs to start their own businesses, while 66% of people listed disliking who they worked with or said they wanted to pursue other training.
“It’s a related phenomenon,” Steven Davis, an economist with the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, said Monday during an Economic Innovation Group event, according to Axios. “People are looking for working arrangements that are more suitable to how they want to live their lives.”
Roughly 140,174 of the business applications filed in January were classified as being “high-propensity,” meaning they have an increased likelihood of “turning into businesses with payroll,” according to the census data.
The retail, mining, real estate, education, and healthcare industries were among the leading categories that saw an increase in business applications filed, census data show.
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The Washington Examiner reached out to the U.S. Census Bureau for a statement but did not receive a response.
