The Bronx boasts most new businesses

Businesses are booming in the Bronx, according to a report released last week by non-profit Center for an Urban Future.

The report, “New York’s Business Boom,” recognizes the Bronx as the borough that has experienced the fastest growth in terms of startups, increasing from 1,159 newly formed businesses in 1991 to 4,690 in 2011, a 305 percent increase. 

Brooklyn saw the second fastest growth in newly created businesses, increasing from 7,419 to 19,351 over the same period, a 161 percent increase, according to the report. Queens had a 128 percent increase, followed by Staten Island, up 93 percent, and Manhattan, up 25 percent.  

The increase in Bronx businesses, however, has done little to help rising unemployment rates. 

According to the Local Area Unemployment Statistics by the Department of Labor, the unemployment rate in Bronx County has increased from 9.2 percent in January 1991 to 13.4 percent in January 2013. The unemployment rate fluctuated between those two dates, going from 12.5 percent in January 1997, to 7.1 percent in January 2008, and then back up again.