The Nation - News from Jan. 1, 1988

The United States began 1988 with a population of 244,427,098, an increase of 2.2 million from a year ago, the Census Bureau estimated. The bureau said its population estimate for New Year’s Day, 1988, represented a 7.9% increase from the actual count of 226.5 million people made in the 1980 census. The population is expected to grow by another 2.2 million this year, far below the record increase of 3.1 million recorded during the “baby boom” year of 1956. The newest estimate was based on an estimated 3.8 million births in 1987, 2.1 million deaths and net migration of 547,000.