Applications to set up new businesses declined last month, with projections of future business formation also dropping, according to the latest data from the U.S. Census Bureau.
Business applications for September came in at 426,170, down by 1.3 percent from the previous month, the Census Bureau said in an Oct. 10 statement. The number of projected business formations—new businesses estimated to emerge from these applications—was 28,865, a 0.4 percent decline. Put formally, the bureau is “projecting that 28,865 new business startups with payroll tax liabilities will form within four quarters of application from all the business applications filed during September 2024.”