Some 40.6 percent of new businesses set up by Under-35s were in Southern Italy. Net of the roughly 11,000 closures that took place during the same period, over 20,000 new businesses with young owners took the overall number up to 600,000. In absolute terms, young owners were estimated to have made a 54 per cent contribution - the total of Under-35 businesses out of the total quarterly figure - to the entrepreuneurial base between April and June. This contribution appears even more significant given its intensity.
  The quarterly growth rate for young businesses rose 3.6 percent, while businesses rose 0.6 per cent overall.
  Unioncamere said the business response to job seekers was one of the main reasons for this growth, confirmed by the prevalence of micro-initiatives - 76 per cent of new young businesses started off as one-man bands - and by the number of these based in the south. New businesses set up by young people in Southern Italy made up 40.6 percent of the total number of new businesses in that part of the country, with rises or similar results in Calabria, Campania and Sicily. Southern Italy saw a higher rate of new young businesses than other regions with populations of people under 35. In Campania the ratio was 3.2 new businesses per 1,000 young people. In absolute terms, the sectors chosen by these young people were commerce (more new 6,500 firms in Q2), hospitality (up by 2,800) and construction (up by 2,300). In percentage terms, the growth of Under-35 businesses was fundamental for the quarterly transport balance (young businesses alone accounted for more than 100 per cent of market segment sales which, without them, would have closed negative), construction (young businesses accounted for 78 per cent of overall sales) and manufacturing activities (3 out of 4 businesses were run by Under-35s). (AGI)