By Evan Sully
(Reuters) – Applications to start new U.S. businesses dropped sharply in June, falling for the first time since February.
The Commerce Department said on Thursday that business applications decreased 9.8% to a seasonally adjusted 448,553 last month. The data is derived from business applications for tax identifications.
There were a seasonally adjusted 51,543 applications from corporations, down 1.6% from May. Applications for businesses with planned wages totaled 52,325, a decrease of 7.6% from the prior month.
Business applications fell in all four U.S. regions, led by a 12.25 drop in the Midwest last month and were lower across all industries.
The largest drop was in mining, which recorded a 25.7% decline, with other sizable drops in ,accommodation and food services as well as the administrative and support category.
Based on June’s figures, the Commerce Department’s Census Bureau, which compiles the data, projected about 32,990 new business start-ups with payroll tax liabilities would form within four quarters of application, down 6.9% compared with the estimates for May.
(Reporting by Evan Sully; Editing by Dan Grebler)
