Iowa’s personal-income growth was number-one in the nation in last year’s third quarter. Andy Bernot is an economist with the U-S Commerce Department’s Bureau of Economic Analysis.He says the third quarter was weak after the recession pushed the second quarter down, and Iowa wasn’t that much ahead of the other states. The report says services and farming drove the increase in personal-income growth, but despite all the layoffs in factories, Bernot says Iowa’s growth also benefited from increased profits in manufacturing.Iowa’s top growth area compared to the nation was durable-goods manufacturers. Earnings from durable-goods manufacturing for the whole country went down one-point two percent, but for Iowa it went UP about one-point-two. Iowa’s sound farm economy also helped make it number-one in 2001’s third quarter. The second-quarter recession pushed down many factors of personal income, one reason why things looked a bit better in the third quarter, says Bernot. He says it’s one of the smallest increases in personal income in six or seven years, so the economy’s pretty weak. The top five states for personal-income growth were Iowa, Nebraska, Maine, Wyoming, and New Mexico.
Iowa's Radio News Network
