West Leads Nation in Yearly Increase in Personal Income
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WASHINGTON — Western states led the nation in the growth of total personal income during the year ending last Sept. 30, the Commerce Department reported today.
The Plains States posted the largest increase, up 9.2%, followed by the Far West with a 9.1% gain and the Rocky Mountain region with an 8.7% advance.
Personal income in the rest of the country trailed the national average of 8.5% growth, according to the report by the department’s Bureau of Economic Analysis.
South Carolina, where Hurricane Hugo hit hardest last September, was the only state with a decline in personal income over the last year, it said. It posted a 0.9% drop.
But, the report added, if the effects of the damage caused by the hurricane were excluded, personal income would have increased 9.4% in the state.
Hugo had an adverse effect on personal income throughout the Southeast, slowing growth in the region to an 8.3% increase.
Other regions trailing the national average were the Mid-Atlantic, up 8.4%; New England and the Southwest, up 8.2%, and the Great Lakes, up 8.1%.
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