Personal income down in Washington

Written by Dave Gallagher | The Bellingham Herald | March 25, 2010

This will be posted on the news site as well, but here are some details on what happen with personal income last year:

Hurt by the slowdown in construction, Washington residents posted a decline in personal income last year, according to a new federal report.
In 2009 Washington’s personal income declined 0.9 percent compared to the previous year, according to the latest data from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. Personal income, as defined by the BEA, is income received by all persons from all sources, including salaries, stock dividends and rental revenue.
Across the U.S., personal income declined by 1.7 percent. Only six states — Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Kentucky, Virginia and West Virginia — posted year-over-year gains. Only three of those states — Maryland, West Virginia and Virginia — saw gains from salary income.
Much of Washington’s declines were in work income and the dividends/interest categories. Transfer receipts —money coming in from the gov-ernment through a variety of sources, including social security and unemployment benefits — posted a gain. In terms of net earnings, construction saw the most significant drop, followed by farming, durable goods, retail trade and finance. Health care, government and information were among the few sectors to post year-over-year gains.
The state with the biggest decline was Nevada, dropping 4.8 percent year-over-year, the second largest drop among states since 1969. It was par-ticularly hard hit by the slowdown in construction and the hotel industry, according to the report.