Of 28,948 Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander-owned firms listed in the study, 3,896 - or 13.5 percent - are health care firms while 3,601 — or 12.4 percent — are retail companies. Administrative service companies were third with 3,362 (11.6 percent), professional services with 3,239 (11.2 percent) and construction with 2,853 (9.9 percent).

Professional companies topped overall U.S. totals with 14.3 percent, followed by construction (12.1 percent) and retail (11.3 percent) firms.

That's according to data in a study released by the U.S. Census Bureau today that looks at Native Hawaiian-owned and other Pacific Islander-owned firms. The information was based on a survey of business owners in 2002.

The study is an extension of information released last year that showed the rate of growth of Native Hawaiian- and other Pacific Islander-owned businesses grew from 1997 to 2002 by 49.4 percent, more than three times faster than the national average.

The 28,948 Native Hawaiian- and other Pacific Islander-owned businesses across the U.S. generated about $4.3 billion in revenues in 2002, up 3.4 percent from 1997.

In terms of revenues, construction companies owned by Native Hawaiians and other Pacific Islanders accounted for 21.2 percent of all sales and receipts reportedly generated by Native Hawaii- and Pacific Islander-owned firms. The retail trade owners who were Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islander ranked second on the revenues list, reporting about 15.1 percent of all money made by Native Hawaiian- and other Pacific Islander-owned firms. Wholesalers who are Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander ranked third, reportedly bringing in 11.3 percent.

Across the U.S., wholesale companies reported generating the most money, 21.1 percent, followed by manufacturing and retail firms at 17.8 percent and 14 percent respectively.

Other highlights of the new data: