Personal income grows slightly, helped by stimulus funds

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Helped by growth in the healthcare industry, personal income grew around 1% in the United States in the first quarter of 2010, up from half a percent in the fourth quarter of 2009, according to data released by the Bureau of Economic Analysis.

Californians earned $15.6 billion in the quarter, a 1% increase from the quarter before. The United States earned $110 billion in the quarter.

Personal income grew in all but two states in the first quarter, led by Mississippi, at 1.6% growth. The BEA attributed about half of that state’s growth to federal economic stimulus funds and projects.

Money from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act helped boost personal income, the BEA said. Transfer receipts from stimulus funding contributed to 0.1% of income growth nationally, the agency said.

-- Alana Semuels

Graphic credit: Bureau of Economic Analysis