The federal government says Mainer's personal income grew at a 4.6 percent annual rate in the first quarter of this year. That was just above the national growth rate, 4.3 percent, and just below the New England average, which was 4.8 percent.
Most of the increase in Mainers' personal income came from their earnings at work. Pay rose 4.5 percent in the first quarter of this year. Lesser contributions came from government benefit payments and dividend and interest income. The biggest earnings gains came in the healthcare industry. Next came the finance and insurance industries, durable goods manufacture, and construction.
Washington State saw the fastest growth in personal income during the first quarter: a seven percent rate. Neighboring Idaho had the slowest income growth rate in the country; just two percent. Maine's four-point-six percent income growth rate placed it right in the middle: 26th out of the 50 states.