Total personal income in the Nation rose 64 percent last year, with gains of 54 percent or more in each of the eight regions and at least 44 percent, in all but one of the States. Nationally, consumer prices rose a little more than 4 percent. The personal income gain in all regions and in 49 States and the District of Columbia exceeded the increase in consumer prices so that the real purchasing power of consumers apparently increased at least moderately. The one exception was the State of Washington, where income rose 44 percent, about the same as the rise in consumer prices. (Of course, there were areas within States where income changes were so small that real incomes failed to rise.)

On a per capita basis, the largest gains in current dollar personal income ranging from 8 to 13 percent-were in North Dakota, the District of Columbia, South Dakota, Arkansas, New Mexico, and Arizona. For the Nation as a whole, per capita personal income was up 51⁄2 percent from 1970 to 1971. In 44 States and the District of Columbia, per capita income rose at least as much as national consumer prices. In Minnesota, New Hampshire, Connecticut, Alaska, Washington, and Montana, however, the gains in per capita income were at best about equal to the advance in consumer prices.

1970-71 CHANGE IN TOTAL PERSONAL INCOME

The regions with the largest gains last year in personal income were the Rocky Mountain (81⁄2 percent), Southeast (84 percent), and Southwest (74 percent). All three regions had very large gains in construction and Federal civilian payrolls. The Rocky Mountain region also had gains in manufacturing payrolls that were above national average, and the strength in these basic industries led to large advances in a variety of local service industries, including wholesale and retail trade, the finance, insurance, and real estate group, and the transportation, communications, and public utilities group. In the Southeast, there were large gains in farming, mining, and manufacturing, and sizable advances in many service-type activities. In the Southwest, there were also large gains in mining and in local service-type industries.

Income increases were equal or close to the 634 percent national average in the Plains (6 percent), Great Lakes (62 percent), Far West (61⁄2 percent), and Mideast (64 percent). The gains in all four regions were fairly evenly spread among major income components, but there were particularly strong increases in farming in the Plains and in manufacturing in the Great Lakes.

New England's income increased 54 percent in 1971-the only regional gain which was well below the national average. Manufacturing wage and salary payments and income from farming declined, and income from most service-type activities went up less than in the Nation as a whole.

Table 3 shows for each State and region the percent change from 1970 to 1971 in total personal income and in earnings from major industries.

State patterns

The States with the largest 1970-71 personal income gains, ranking from 9 to 14 percent, were North Dakota, Arizona, Arkansas, New Mexico, South Dakota, Nevada, Colorado, Tennessee, Utah, South Carolina, and Kentucky. In these 11 States, increases in earnings from most industries tended to be well above the national average. Manufacturing earnings increased at least 44 percent in each of these States, compared with a national advance of 2 percent. Among other basic industries, the gains in farm income were well above the national average in eight of the 11 States and the gains in Federal payrolls were well above average in seven of the States. Construction payrolls increased more than the national average of 5 percent in all 11 States, and there were gains of 15 percent or more in six States. Reflecting these advances, most of these 11 States had gains well above average in the finance, insurance, and real estate group, in the transportation, communications, and public utilities group, wholesale and retail trade, and services. Personal income in the District of Columbia was up by more than 9 percent last year, largely because of an advance of more than 10 percent in Federal civilian payrolls.

At the other end of the scale, last year's income advance was relatively weakranging from 44 to 6 percent-in Maine, New York, Pennsylvania, Minnesota, Ohio, Rhode Island, Montana, Connecticut, and Washington. Farm income was off in seven of the nine States, and manufacuring payrolls were weak-off moderately or up only a little-in eight. Declines in manufacturing payrolls played the key role in the weakness of overall income in Washington, Connecticut, and Minnesota, while the very small size of manufacturing gains limited the overall income gain in Pennsylvania and New York.

INCOME CHANGE, FOURTH QUARTER 1970 TO FOURTH QUARTER 1971

A clear picture of the 1971 economic recovery and advance can be seen in the regional and State inome changes from the fourth quarter of 1970 (the cyclical low point) to the fourth quarter of 1971; the latter is the most recent quarter for which State income estimates are available. In addition to the economy's recovery from the recession low, factors influencing regional income developments over this four-quarter span included: (1) recovery from the auto strike of late 1970; (2) a sharp rise in farm income reflecting an increase in farm prices and a much larger volume of marketings, particularly from the bumper crops of corn and grain sorghums; (3) a small decline in minning payrolls because of the strikes in the coal industry during the fourth quarter of 1971.

As chart 9 shows, from the fourth quarter of 1970 to the fourth quarter of 1971, income in the United States rose 72 percent. Gains well above the national average were scored in the Plains (94 percent), Rocky Mountain (834 percent),

Great Lakes (81⁄2 percent), and Southeast (8 percent). Farm income increased in all four regions-sharply in the Plains, Southeast, and Great Lakes, and more moderately in the Rocky Mountain region. Reflecting both the rebound from the auto strike and the general economic recovery, manufacturing payrolls rose more than 10 percent in the Great Lakes, a gain twice the national average. The Southeast had a large gain in total personal income even though mining payrolls were off sharply. There was a large advance in the region's farm income and aboveaverage gains in Government payrolls-an important income source in the region-and in a wide variety of local service industries.

Gains in the Southwest (8 percent) and Far West (7 percent) were fairly close to the national average advance. Income gains in New England (6 percent) and the Mideast (6 percent) were well below average. In the latter two regions, manufacturing and construction payrolls showed only small increases and advances in many service-type industries were well below the national average.

In 10 of the 11 States with the largest income gains, raining from 10 to 20 percent, there were very big increases in farm income; in the 11th-Michiganthe key was the sharp recovery in manufacturing payrolls following the auto strike and their further advance during the year. (See table 1.) At the other end of the scale, income rose by 6 percent or less in six States. In all six, manufacturing payrolls either rose little or declined somewhat. The smallest advance was in West Virginia (14 percent), reflecting a sharp drop in mining payrolls because of the coal strikes.

Mining payrolls declined also in Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Kentucky, apparently because of the coal strikes, but other income components increased sufficiently to offset the loss from mining, and personal income in all three States advanced at a pace close to the national average.

Percent changes in personal income income in each region and State from the fourth quarter of 1970 to the fourth quarter of 1971 are shown in the last column of table 2.