BEA: R.I. 16th in nation for personal income growth

RHODE ISLAND'S personal income grew 4.3 percent in 2014 from 2013, according to the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. / COURTESY U.S. BUREAU OF ECONOMIC ANALYSIS
RHODE ISLAND'S personal income grew 4.3 percent in 2014 from 2013, according to the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. / COURTESY U.S. BUREAU OF ECONOMIC ANALYSIS

PROVIDENCE – Rhode Island ranked 16th in the country – and second in New England – for its 4.3 percent growth in personal income last year compared with 2013, to $51.5 billion from $49.4 billion.
Rhode Island’s growth was higher than the average personal income growth for the nation, which was 3.9 percent last year.
Growth of personal income, which is the sum of net earnings by place of residence, property income and personal current transfer receipts, ranged from 0.5 percent in Nebraska, which ranked 50th, to Alaska, which ranked first with 5.7 percent growth.
New Hampshire ranked 12th for 4.5 percent growth; Massachusetts ranked 17th for 4.2 percent growth; Vermont, 19th for 4 percent growth; Connecticut, 39th for 3 percent growth; and Maine, 40th for 2.9 percent growth.
Net earnings in Rhode Island also grew 3.5 percent year over year, below the national average of 4 percent. Net earnings grew in every state last year except Nebraska, which experienced an eight-tenths of a percentage point decline. North Dakota had the largest increase in net earnings at 6.4 percent. Rhode Island had the fourth-highest growth in net earnings in New England, preceded by New Hampshire, 4.5 percent; Massachusetts, 4.4 percent; and Vermont, 3.8 percent.

Per capita personal income in Rhode Island last year was $48,838, ranking it 13th in the country. Connecticut ranked first at $62,467, while Massachusetts ranked second at $59,182; New Hampshire, eighth at $53,149; Vermont, 18th at $47,330, and Maine, 31st at $42,071.

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