2010 personal income grew in all N.H. counties

Personal income grew in every New Hampshire county in 2010, with the largest gain in Grafton County and the smallest in Coos County.The U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, which released the figures Wednesday, defines personal income as income derived by all people from all sources.The bureau has already released state figures for personal income growth in 2011, but just released the county figures for 2010 because the local data sets take longer to compile.Personal income declined in every county in New Hampshire from 2008 to 2009, but began to rebound in 2010 when personal income saw gains in every county in the state.Statewide, personal income in grew 2.79 percent from 2009 to 2010 and 4.8 percent from 2010 to 2011.In 2010, Grafton saw the biggest gain in personal income, at 4.1 percent year over year, while Coos had the slowest gain, growing by just 1 percent in 2010.The other counties, listed in order of their personal income growth in 2010, are: • Sullivan: 3.46 percent • Carroll: 3.41 percent • Rockingham: 2.96 percent • Hillsborough: 2.71 percent • Merrimack: 2.5 percent • Cheshire: 2.44 percent • Strafford: 2.35 percent • Belknap: 2.04 percentPersonal income grew in all 67 counties in New England in 2010, except for Aroostook County in Maine, where it contracted 0.2 percent.At 8.7 percent growth in 2010, Nantucket County in Massachusetts had largest gain in county personal income in the region. — KATHLEEN CALLAHAN/NEW HAMPSHIRE BUSINESS REVIEW