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U.S. NEWS Tuesday 31 december 2019

With births down, U.S. had slowest growth rate in a century

By MIKE SCHNEIDER population younger."
Associated Press Ten states had population
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — The declines in the past year.
past year's population They included New York,
growth rate in the United which lost almost 77,000
States was the slowest in a people; Illinois, which lost
century due to declining almost 51,000 residents;
births, increasing deaths West Virginia, which lost
and the slowdown of in- more than 12,000 people;
ternational migration, ac- Louisiana, which lost almost
cording to figures released 11,000 residents; and Con-
Monday by the U.S. Census necticut, which lost 6,200
Bureau. people. Mississippi, Hawaii,
The U.S. grew from 2018 to New Jersey, Alaska and
2019 by almost a half per- Vermont each lost less than
cent, or about 1.5 million 5,000 residents.
people, with the popula- Regionally, the South saw
tion standing at 328 mil- the greatest population
lion this year, according to growth from 2018 to 2019,
population estimates. increasing 0.8% due to nat-
That's the slowest growth ural increase and people
rate in the U.S. since 1917 to moving from others parts
1918, when the nation was of the country. The North-
involved in World War I, said east had a population de-
William Frey, a senior fellow crease for the first time this
at The Brookings Institution. decade, declining 0.1%
For the first time in de- due primarily to people
cades, natural increase moving away.
— the number of births mi- Monday's population esti-
nus the number of deaths mates also offer a preview
— was less than 1 million of which states may gain
in the U.S. due to an aging or lose congressional seats
population of Baby Boom- from next year's apportion-
ers, whose oldest members In this June 15, 2017, file photo, people walk inside the Oculus, the new transit station at the World ment process using figures
entered their 70s within the Trade Center in New York. from the 2020 Census. The
past several years. As the Associated Press process divvies up the 435
large Boomer population U.S. House seats among the
continues to age, this trend going to be less." by 340 people between administration combined 50 states based on popula-
is going to continue. Four states had a natural 2018 and 2019, with people with a perception that the tion.
"Some of these things are decrease, where deaths moving to the island offset- U.S. has fewer economic Several forecasts predict
locked into place. With outnumbered births: West ting natural decrease. opportunities than it did California, the nation's
the aging of the popula- Virginia, Maine, New International migration before the recession a de- most populous state with
tion, as the Baby Boomers Hampshire and Vermont. to the U.S. decreased to cade ago contributed to 39.5 million residents, los-
move into their 70s and 80s, For the first time this de- 595,000 people from 2018 the decline, Frey said. ing a seat for the first time.
there are going to be high- cade, Puerto Rico had a to 2019, dropping from "Immigration is a wildcard in Texas, the nation's second
er numbers of deaths," Frey population increase. The as many as 1 million inter- that it is something we can most-populous state with
said. "That means propor- island, battered by eco- national migrants in 2016, do something about," Frey 28.9 million residents, is ex-
tionately fewer women of nomic stagnation and Hur- according to the popula- said. "Immigrants tend to pected to gain as many as
child bearing age, so even ricane Maria in the past tion estimates. Immigration be younger and have chil- three seats, the most of any
if they have children, it's still several years, increased restrictions by the Trump dren, and they can make a state.q