Inflation Eats Away at Personal Income in Most States, U.S. Says
Residents of more than half the states suffered personal income losses--considered against inflation--through the worst of the recession, a government study shows.
Only 21 states had personal income growth exceeding the 3.9% increase in prices from July 1990, when the recession began, through June 1991, according to the report by the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Economic Analysis.
People living in 29 states and the District of Columbia saw their inflation-adjusted incomes decline, the report showed.
Personal incomes increased 2.8% nationally during the 12 months, 1.1 percentage points fewer than the growth in inflation.
Incomes of people living along both coast--in New England and the states of New York, New Jersey, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, Georgia and California--grew even slower than the national average.
In Rhode Island, personal incomes declined 0.3% and were unchanged in New Hampshire. Other states at the bottom of the list were Maine and Massachusetts where incomes edged up just 0.2% and New Jersey, which had a gain of 0.8%.
Utah, where incomes jumped 6.2%, headed the list.
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