A new U-S Census Bureau report shows Iowa had the nation’s smallest amountof population growth during the last century. The report says Iowa was thenation’s 10th most populous state in the year 1900, but fell to 30th by theyear 2000, posting the least growth in population of any state. NancyPedersen of the Iowa Department of Economic Development says many states arefacing the same challenges of trying to keep young people from moving away.Pedersen says the formation of the Human Resource Recruitment Consortium, acollection of 80 companies, universities and other groups, is working toreverse the trends. Pederson says the latest numbers from the Census Bureaushow things are starting to turn around. A survey done in this century,between July of 2001 and July of this year, found Iowa gained about 4,800residents, for a total population around 2.9 million.
