Personal income in Hawai'i grew 4.7 percent in 2000
Advertiser Staff
Hawai'i personal income grew at a stronger-than-expected rate in 2000, a sign that residents felt direct benefits in their pocketbooks from last year's boom in tourism and strengthening local economy.
The income measure rose 4.7 percent last year, the largest such increase since the early 1990s, according to federal government statistics.
In "real" inflation-adjusted terms, income grew 3 percent last year — the strongest growth since 1990, and higher than the official state forecast of 2.3 percent.
The increase in personal income — an aggregate measure of salaries, benefits, rents and other money paid to Hawai'i workers, landlords and proprietors — is another statistical indicator that the state's economy performed better in 2000 than in previous years, said Chris Grandy, economist at the Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism.
"That growth is probably at the higher range of what we'd call moderate," Grandy said.
The data come from the U.S. Commerce Department's Bureau of Economic Analysis, which last week released its fourth-quarter income estimates. The numbers will be revised as new data comes in.
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