Personal income growth, 1st quarter 2020
Personal income in Georgia rose 3.1% at an annual
rate in the first quarter of 2020 according to new information released by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis.
The increase equaled the percentage gain in the 4th
quarter of 2019 but fell short of the 6.1% gain recorded by the state in the 1st
quarter of 2019.
For the U.S., personal income increased 2.3% in the first
quarter of 2020, a deceleration from the 3.6% increase recorded in the 4th
quarter of 2019.
For the 1st quarter of 2020, personal income in the state totaled $522.194 billion.
Personal income is the income received by, or on
behalf of, all persons from all sources: from participation as laborers in
production, from owning a home or business, from the ownership of financial
assets, and from government and business in the form of transfers. It includes
income from domestic sources as well as the rest of world. It does not include
realized or unrealized capital gains or losses.
The report contains information for the months of January,
February, and March and so comes before the shelter-in-place order given by Governor
Kemp, which was effective on April 3. With the order, the state’s economy
entered into a much slower period that will be reflected when information for the
2nd quarter is released later this year.
Types of income
BEA classifies personal income by components of net
earnings; dividends, interest and rent; and transfer receipts.
Net earnings by place of residence is earnings by
place of work less contributions for government social insurance, plus an
adjustment to convert earnings by place of work to a place-of-residence basis.
Transfer receipts include items such as social security
benefits, state unemployment benefits, and Medicare and Medicaid payments.
Over the first quarter of the year, of the $3.962 billion increase in personal income for the state, net earnings increased by $845 million; dividends, interest and rent added $711 million; and transfer receipts climbed by $2.407 billion.
In Georgia, net earnings contributed 0.7 percentage
points towards the state’s 3.1% increase in the first quarter of the year with
dividends, interest, and rent accounting for 0.5 percentage points and transfer
payments accounting for 1.9 percentage points.
For the U.S., net earnings accounted for 0.2 percentage
points of the nation’s 2.3% increase while dividends, interest and rent
accounted for 0.5 percentage points, and transfer payments contributing 1.7
percentage points.
Differences between the sum of the components and the totals shown are due to rounding of data.
Increases by industry
For the state, earnings grew fastest in the finance and
insurance industry, up by $616 million followed by construction, which recorded
increases of $369 million in the first quarter.
Earnings in the accommodation and food services industry
declined by $800 million in the first three months of the year.
The largest percentage increases in earnings occurred in finance
and insurance (+0.48%), construction (0.28%), and state and local government
(0.27%).
The largest percentage declines were reported in
accommodation and food services (-0.62%) and administrative and waste
management services (-0.14%).
