This file was prepared for electronic distribution by the inforM staff.
Women continue to make inroads into business ownership in the United States.
Women-owned nonfarm sole proprietorships increased 62.5 percent between 1980 and 1986, from 2.5 million to 4.1 million. Total nonfarm sole proprietorships increased 41.8 percent during the same time period, from 9.7 million to 13.8 million. Women's share of total nonfarm sole proprietorships increased from 26.1 percent in 1980 to 29.9 percent in 1986. The largest number of women-owned businesses historically has been in services and in wholesale and retail trade and this trend continued into 1986. As indicated in Table I, 2.4 million women-owned businesses were in the services industry followed by 975,000 in wholesale and retail trade.