N.H. per capita income rose 4.8% in 2011

Personal income in New Hampshire rose by nearly 5 percent in 2011, the eighth-highest per capita personal income in the country, according to the U.S. Commerce Department.The department’s Bureau of Economic Analysis, which released the estimates Wednesday, defines personal income as income received by all people from all sources.The report said that in 2010, per capita personal income in the Granite State totaled $43,698, and in 2011, it rose 4.8 percent, to $45,787. The 4.8 percent gain was 12th best in the country, but just shy of the national average growth rate of 5.1 percent.While the Granite State fared better than Maine, Rhode Island and Vermont, it does not have the highest personal income in New England. Not only do Connecticut and Massachusetts have a higher per capita personal income than New Hampshire, they have the highest in the country.Connecticut ranks first with its 2011 per capita personal income of $56,889, and Massachusetts is second at $53,621. Pulling up the rear were Idaho, which ranked 49th at $33,326, and Mississippi, which ranked 50th at $32,176.The report also found that personal income grew in nearly every sector in the state in 2011.The industries that saw the biggest gains in New Hampshire year over year were professional, scientific and technical services, which increased 8.4 percent, or $286 million in 2011; finance and insurance, which grew 6.72 percent or $187 million; durable goods manufacturing, which grew 4.5 percent or $186 million; and health care and social assistance, which increased 3.8 percent or $201 million.A few sectors in the state did see a drop in personal income in 2011. The biggest losses by industry were in farming, which fell 24.9 percent, or $8 million, in 2011; information, which dropped 3.1 percent, or $37 million; and federal/civilian government, which dropped 2.2 percent, or $18 million.The report said that earnings “recovered their pre-recession levels and reached new peaks in 45 states,” including New Hampshire. Earnings also increased nationally in every private industry in 2011 and earnings growth accelerated in all private industries except administrative services and accommodations, it said.”In contrast, earnings fell 0.3 percent for state and local government employees, while earnings growth slowed for the civilian federal government to 0.6 percent from 7.2 percent in 2010 and for the military to 1.3 percent from 4.0 percent in 2010.” — KATHLEEN CALLAHAN/NEW HAMPSHIRE BUSINESS REVIEW