EMBARGOED UNTIL: JANUARY 29, 1996 AT 12:15 P.M. (MONDAY)
Public Information Office CB96-07
301-457-3030
301-457-4067 (TDD)
Valerie Strang
Eddie Salyers
301-763-5726
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Washington, D.C.--EMBARGOED UNTIL: JANUARY 29, 1996 AT 12:15 P.M. (MONDAY) - The number of women-owned businesses in the United States reached 6.4 million in 1992, representing one-third of all domestic firms and 40 percent of all retail and service firms. Businesses owned by women generated $1.6 trillion in business revenues and employed 13.2 million people. About 19 percent of these were businesses with paid employees, averaging 10.6 employees and $1.2 million in receipts per firm. This is according to a report from the Commerce Department's Census Bureau entitled, "1992 Women-Owned Businesses" (WB92-1), that will be published later this year.
Secretary of Commerce Ronald H. Brown said, "These findings confirm that women-owned businesses are substantial and growing contributors to the nation's economy, particularly in terms of job creation."
Nearly 520,000 of the businesses owned by women were "C" corporations which were covered in this survey for the first time in 1992. They include all types of corporations except subchapter S corporations, and tend to be larger business operations. In 1992, women-owned "C" corporations:
Women-owned "C" corporations were active in all major kinds of businesses, ranging from 22 percent each in mining and manufacturing businesses, to 31 percent in retail trade.
Of the more than 2 million "C" corporations in the United States, women owned nearly 26 percent and their businesses contributed nearly 9 percent of all revenues for the year.
In addition to "C" corporations, women owned 5.9 million sole proprietorships, partnerships, and subchapter S corporations in 1992. Subchapter S corporations have no more than 35 shareholders and are not taxed as corporations. In 1992, these women-owned "non-C" businesses:
Previous surveys have covered women-owned unincorporated businesses and subchapter S corporations, and in the past five years the number of women-owned "non-C" businesses has increased 43 percent (up from 4.1 million in 1987). In addition, between 1987 and 1992:
Nationwide, of some 17 million sole proprietorships, partnerships and subchapter S corporations in 1992, more than one-third were women-owned and their businesses generated more than 19 percent of all "non-C" business revenues. In addition, over 40 percent of all U.S. "non-C" retail and service businesses were owned by women and showed strong rates of growth since the prior five-year survey. Between 1987 and 1992:
The report provides information on the number of women-owned firms, receipts, number of paid employees, and annual payroll. These data are presented by geographic area (the nation, states, and selected metropolitan areas, counties, and cities), industry, size of firm, and legal form of organization with comparative 1992 data for all U.S. firms.
The data in this report were collected as part of the 1992 Economic Census from a large sample of all non-farm businesses filing tax forms as sole proprietors, partnerships, or any type of corporations, and with receipts of $500 or more in 1992.
Since this was a sample survey, the data are subject to sampling variability as well as reporting and coverage errors. All comparisons made using only 1992 data are statistically significant at the 90 percent confidence level. However, comparisons between 1987 and 1992 should be made with extreme caution because changes in tax laws cause inconsistencies between the data and changes in survey methods may contribute to differences.
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Editor's Note: media representatives may obtain reproduced excerpts from the forthcoming women-owned businesses report from the Census Bureau's Public Information Office on 301-457-3030; fax: 301-457-3670; or e-mail: pio@census.gov. Other requests should go to the bureau's Minority- and Women-Owned Businesses Information Staff on 301-763-5726. A notice will be issued when printed copies of the report are available.