A strong farm sector combined with improved consumer activity more than offset a slowdown in home construction and associated sectors and boosted Idaho’s total personal income by more than 1.7 percent during the third quarter of 2007, the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis reported Wednesday.
On an annualized basis, personal income – the total of all wages, business owner profits, investment earnings and transfer payments like Social Security – hit $47.7 billion during the July-September quarter. Idaho’s percentage increase, sixth highest among the states, translated into over $800 million in additional income, and $469 million came in higher wages and business profits.
Nearly $200 million resulted from higher investment earnings, and the rest came from Social Security and other transfer payments.
The surge, which followed a sluggish spring quarter due to a decline in construction and weaker commodity prices, pushed Idaho’s personal income growth over the year to more than 8.4 percent, second only to Utah’s 9.1 percent increase.
The government revised its second quarter personal income estimate upward for Idaho by nearly $80 million, raising the percentage increase to 1.5 percent from the first quarter of 2007. That lifted Idaho’s national ranking from 47th to 23rd, still the poorest performing quarter in the last four.
Nationally, personal income rose 1.4 percent from the spring to summer quarters and 6.5 percent from third quarter 2006 to third quarter 2007.
On an annualized basis, wages and salaries in Idaho were up $277 million last summer while proprietors’ profits rose by $136 million. Employers also paid $56 million more during the quarter for pensions, insurance, Social Security and other federal programs.
Agriculture generated $117 million more in earnings during the third quarter, complemented by an increase of nearly $100 million in wholesale and retail trade, transportation and warehousing. There was also a $70 million increase in earnings for professional services and $61 million more in the health care sector.
Those gains offset stagnant earnings in manufacturing and a $33 million earnings decline in construction, timber and real estate, reflecting a slowdown in residential construction that began last spring.
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