Women-owned firms increased nearly 20%, while all U.S. firms grew by seven percent over the latest period studied (1997 and 2002), based on a report released by the Office of Advocacy of the U.S. Small Business Administration.

        The report uses newly released U.S. Census and other data to describe women's contributions to the economy. Statistics documented in the report include:

** Women owned 6.5 million or 28.2% of nonfarm U.S. firms in 2002. More than 14% of these women-owned firms were employers, with 7.1 million employees and $173.7 billion in annual payroll.

** Women-owned firms accounted for 6.5% of total employment in U.S. firms in 2002 and 4.2% of total receipts.

** Of all women business owners in 2002, 85.95% were White, 8.43% African American, 8.33% Hispanic, 5.25% Asian, 1.23% American Indian and Alaska Native, and 0.18% Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islander (total does not add to 100 due to some double counting across ethnic groups).