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Immigrants are one-third of population, 48% of small-business owners
There's no doubt New York is a melting pot. And as one reflection of the importance of foreign-born people to the economy, a new study finds that nearly half of New York's small-business owners are immigrants, as reported by The New York Times.
The study, by the Fiscal Policy institute, found that, while immigrants make up just over a third of the city's population, they constitute 48 per cent of New York's small-business owners. That's about 69,000 business owners.
The study also found that immigrants in the labour force are somewhat more likely than U.S.-born workers to own small businesses.
They run businesses in every sector of the economy, representing a majority in many industries, including retail, transportation and manufacturing. They're also strongly represented in higher-skilled professions, including computer systems design, architecture and engineering businesses, the Times reported.
The largest share of foreign-born business owners hail from China, making up 9 per cent of the total, according to the study. That's followed by the Dominican Republic, Korea, India, Italy, Greece, Columbia, countries making up the former Soviet Union, Israel and the Palestinian territories and Jamaica.
Even so, the study found the top 10 groups make up just 45 per cent; another 55 per cent come from other places.
Still, the Times noted, "immigrant entrepreneurs must navigate a sea of obstacles beyond the normal challenges that all small business owners face."
One study it pointed to found that they were less likely than non-immigrants to own a business that had run for more than three and a half years, and more likely to have shut down a business within the last year.
A lack of access to capital needed to start or expand was one hurdle cited. Another was s confusion about the city's myriad business regulations.
The study defined small-business owners as self-employed people with incorporated businesses, excluding corporations and non-profits.
Small business confidence stabilizes
After plunging to a two-year low in August, confidence among Canadian small business owners stabilized in September, according to the latest monthly Business Barometer Index from The Canadian Federation of Independent Business.
The index rose to 62.7, up a point from the August reading of 61.7, but still below the normal range of 65 to 75 when the economy is growing, according to the CFIB. An index level above 50 means that owners expecting their business's performance to be stronger in the next year outnumber those expecting weaker performance, the CFIB explained.
"Although not a solid sign of improvement, it suggests that the economy is not accelerating downward," said CFIB chief economist and vice-president Ted Mallett in a release about the findings, based on 861 randomly sampled responses from CFIB members.
"Concern over fallout from the fiscal crises in the U.S. and Europe spreading to Canada is still with us, but, for the most part, small business operating plans and expectations are titled toward stability, if not modest growth."
There were differences in industries. Business owners in construction, retail and hospitality were the least optimistic, according to the CFIB. Businesses in natural resources, information, health and education were more optimistic.
