By IANS,
Washington : The US population is growing at its slowest pace since the 1940s, authorities said Wednesday.
The US saw its population increase by 2.8 million between April 1, 2010, and July 1, 2011, to 311.6 million, the Census Bureau said in a report. Its growth of 0.92 percent over the 15-month period was the lowest since the mid-1940s, reported Xinhua.
“The nation’s overall growth rate is now at its lowest point since before the baby boom,” said Census Bureau Director Robert Groves.
These were the first set of Census Bureau population estimates to be published since the official 2010 Census state population counts were released a year ago.
The slowdown of national population growth was partly a result of fewer immigrants entering the US, some analysts said. The economic downturn made it more difficult for immigrants to find jobs in the US, particularly in industries like construction that traditionally absorb disproportionately higher immigrant workforce.
California remained the most populous state, with a population of 37.7 million, according to the report.
Rounding out the top five states were Texas (25.7 million), New York (19.5 million), Florida (19.1 million) and Illinois (12.9 million).
In terms of percent increase, the District of Columbia experienced the fastest growth during the period, at 2.7 percent, followed by Texas, Utah, Alaska, Colorado and North Dakota. The only three states to lose population were Rhode Island, Michigan and Maine.