Alabama experienced a 79.3 percent increase in personal incomes in the first quarter of 2021, the sixth highest in the country, according to data released Tuesday by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis.
Personal income growth was seen in every state and the District of Columbia, ranging from a high of 89.3 percent in Mississippi to 31.1 percent in D.C. on the low end.
A statement from the White House credited the growth to the $1.9 trillion economic stimulus package passed by Congress and signed into law in March. Transfer receipts, or benefits received without any service performed for them, increased $2.3 trillion for the nation in the first quarter, which accounted for almost all of the 59.7 percent growth in personal income in the U.S.
The increase in transfer receipts was due to new payments issued under the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act and the American Rescue Plan Act, the BEA said.
“Thanks to President Biden’s American Rescue Plan millions of Americans are getting back to work, the coronavirus is getting under control, and the economy is booming,” the White House said.
In the fourth quarter of 2020, with COVID-19 cases surging and Congress unable to reach a deal for economic relief, personal income decreased in 27 states and D.C. Nationally, the rate fell 3.9 percent.
Earnings increased 6.1 percent nationally in the first quarter of this year after rising 11.5 percent in 2020’s fourth quarter, which the bureau attributed to the continued economic recovery.
