Florida Sees Rise in Small Businesses.

By Alex Clifton, The Palm Beach Post, Fla. Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News

Aug. 22--Despite a slow economy and weak job market, small businesses in Florida grew by 5.3 percent last year, according to a report the Small Business Administration's Office of Advocacy released Thursday.

In Florida, where 98.8 percent of the state's businesses ...ualify as small businesses, fully half of the state's non-farm employment came from companies with 500 or fewer employees. And small business owners' income increased by 2.6 percent to $31 billion in 2002.