Personal income in Hawaii grew at the sixth-fastest
rate in the nation through the first quarter of this year, according to an article this morning in the Star.

Hawaii residents' personal income rose by 1.35 percent compared with
the fourth quarter of 2009, according to the report released by the
U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis.

GAINING STRENGTH

States with biggest increases in personal income in the
first quarter of 2010 compared to the fourth quarter of 2009.

1. Mississippi 1.6%

2. Kansas 1.5%

3. Louisiana 1.4%

4. Alaska 1.4%

5. Tennessee 1.4%

6. Hawaii 1.4%

7. Alabama 1.3%

8. Kentucky 1.3%

9. New Mexico 1.3%

10. Idaho 1.3%

Source: Bureau of Economic Analysis

 

The personal income figures are not adjusted for
inflation.

Transfer receipts, which includes federal stimulus
funds and other federal payments to states, accounted for nearly 40
percent of Hawaii's increase in personal income, the BEA reported.

Federal stimulus funds, the bulk of which were for
government and private sector capital improvement projects, created
2,566 jobs in Hawaii during the first three months of the year,
according to a separate federal report released last month.

For all of 2010, personal income is projected to
grow by 1.9 percent, according to the state Department of Business,
Economic Development & Tourism, up from a 0.4 percent increase in
2009.