Virginia’s personal income growth ranks 44th in the nation

Personal income in Virginia grew only 1.3 percent during the second quarter this year, a growth rate that ranked 44th in the nation, according to estimates released  by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis.

Nonetheless, the second-quarter figure actually represented an improvement for the commonwealth compared with the previous four quarters in which personal income growth ranged from 0.2 to 0.9 percent.

Nationwide, state personal growth accelerated to 1.5 percent in the second quarter from 1.2 percent in the first quarter.

Personal income is the income received by all persons from all sources.

Growth rates among the 50 states and the District of Columbia ranged from 2.7 percent in North Dakota and Nebraska to 1.1 percent in New York and Alaska.

Virginia’s personal income growth rate in the second quarter was slower than all but one of its neighboring states, Maryland, which ranked 47th with a rate of 1.2 percent. The District of Columbia, which was not ranked, had only a slightly better growth rate, 1.3 percent.

North Carolina ranked 20th with a rate of 1.6 percent, followed by West Virginia at 22nd, Tennessee at 23rd  and Kentucky at 29th .

Growth rates rose in 36 states, including Virginia. Inflation, as measured by the national price index for personal consumption expenditures, increased to 0.6 percent in the second quarter from 0.3 percent in the first quarter.

The national acceleration in personal income growth was mostly attributable to property income (dividends, interest and rent), which grew 1.8 percent in the second quarter after growing 0.2 percent in the first quarter. Growth in both net earnings and transfer receipts did not accelerate in the second quarter; growing 1.4 percent and 1.6 percent respectively.

Overall, earnings grew $149 billion in the second quarter, slightly less than the $156.2 growth in the first quarter. Earnings grew in 22 of the 24 industries for which BEA prepares quarterly estimates, with the largest nonfarm increases in health care ($17.4 billion), professional services ($17.1 billion), retail trade ($13.7 billion), and durable goods manufacturing ($12.8 billion).

For the second consecutive quarter, the earnings increase in Texas was larger than the increase in every other state. Earnings in Texas, which accounted for 8.9 percent of the nation, grew $19.2 billion in the second quarter. Earnings in California, which accounted for 13.2 percent of the nation, grew $16.9 billion.