The federal Bureau of Economic Analysis says the July-Sept. 2022 quarter saw growth in Mainers' income and economic output.
The gain in personal income in the third quarter was 14.1%. The figure was supercharged by the $850 checks the state sent out beginning in mid-June and continuing into July. In fact, the only state in the country where personal income grew any faster was Colorado. It too was sending $720 checks to its taxpayers, driving personal income growth there to 14.2% annual rate.
The economic analysis bureau indicated that 8.8% of Maine's personal income growth came from "transfer receipts," the category into which the relief checks would fall. The next biggest contributor to income gains was wages, at 4.2%, with rents and dividends responsible for about 1% of the annual rate increase.
The bureau also reported Maine's economic output was increasing at a 2.8% annual rate in the 3rd quarter. That was below the national average of 3.2%, but slightly above the New England average of 2.7% growth.
Health care, as usual, was one of the big contributors to economic output. In this latest quarter, however, it was joined by the retail, real estate and information sectors.