HISPANIC PR - More than half a million new businesses are started each month with the number of businesses started by immigrants and Latinos. The Kauffman Index of Entrepreneurial Activity is the first study to measure business start-up activity for the entire U.S. adult population at the individual owner level.

Findings in the Kauffman Index of Entrepreneurial:

-- Entrepreneurship activity is substantially higher among men than among women. From 1996 to 2004, the average rate of entrepreneurship for men was 0.46 percent and the average rate for women was only 0.28 percent.

-- The rate of entrepreneurship increased in the early 2000s for men, but not for women. The male entrepreneurship rate was 0.43 percent in 2001 and rose to 0.50 percent in 2002.

-- Entrepreneurship activity is much lower for African-Americans than other ethnic/racial groups; however, rates appear to be increasing. The average rate of entrepreneurship for blacks was 0.29 percent in 1996 and 0.35 percent in 2004.

-- New entrepreneurship activity is highest in the West. Other regions have similar rates of entrepreneurship.

-- Entrepreneurship activity increased the most in the West and South in the past few years. The entrepreneurship rate in the West increased from 0.42 percent in 2001 to 0.49 percent in 2004, and the entrepreneurship rate in the South increased from 0.35 percent to 0.41 percent.

-- The construction industry has the highest rate of entrepreneurship of all major industry groups.