Connecticut’s growth in per capita personal income slowed below the national average to 2.3 percent in 2008, yet the state retained its No. 1 ranking as the nation’s wealthiest, the federal government said today.
U.S. personal income growth slowed to 3.9 percent in 2008 from 6 percent in 2007 with all states except Alaska sharing in the slowdown, according to preliminary estimates released by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis.
The U.S. growth was the slowest since 2003, the bureau said. Inflation, as measured by the national price index for personal consumption expenditures, rose to 3.3 percent in 2008 up from 2.6 percent in 2007.
The range of state growth rates was wide, the government said. The high end included oil producing states such as Alaska, Wyoming, Oklahoma, and Texas, which benefitted from peaking oil prices in the first half of 2008.
At the other end, personal income growth was less than the 3.3 percent national inflation rate in 13 states in 2008. These states include Florida, Arizona, Michigan, and Nevada which had among the largest percentage declines in employment in 2008.
Connecticut personal income for every man, woman and child last year was $56,248 compared with a revised $54,981 in 2007, the bureau survey said.
But among New England states, Connecticut’s personal income growth was the slowest. Maine led with a 4.1 percent rise, followed by Vermont, 3.7 percent; Massachusetts, 3.6 percent; Rhode Island, 3 percent; and New Hampshire, 2.9 percent, the bureau said.
To view the full personal income data and rankings, click here.
