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Entrepreneurs on the rise in response to unemployment

Posted on May 2nd, 2011 Read time: 1 minutes

The Labor Department reports that temporary-help services employment increased to about 2.3 million in March, up from its lowest point of about 1.7 million in mid-2009, according to MarketWatch.

Neil Alexander of the law firm Littler Mendelson tells the news source that many of his company's clients have laid off thousands of employees, and are now using a large chunk of temporary workers as a way to create cost containment.

In addition to contingency workers, the news source points out that entrepreneurship is also at a relatively high level. States with the highest unemployment rates in 2010 – Nevada, Georgia and California – all had the greatest entrepreneurial activity.

"It’s not necessarily about making a fortune," Kip Marlow, an Ohio radio show host, told the media outlet. "Entrepreneurship is about finding a problem and solving it."

Marlow adds that many of these people started companies after being laid off. Plus, they typically have a passion for their start-up, so there's a better chance of success.

Conversely, in developing countries such as Haiti, residents become entrepreneurs out of necessity, since 75 percent of the population is unemployed, according to Forbes.

The media outlet explains that the key to fostering growth in Haiti is to support "opportunity" entrepreneurs, who choose to start new enterprises in response to market needs. 

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