Personal income growth in Louisiana grew by 6.2 percent in the first quarter of 2023, outpacing the national average of 5.1 percent according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis. University of Louisiana at Lafayette Economist Gary Wagner says an increase in social security payments accounts for most of the hike…
“A good portion of personal income is federal transfer payments which include social security benefits. So there was a very large increase in social security benefits because of inflation. Almost 9 percent. And that’s what’s bumping us up above the national average.”
The six-point two percent increase means Louisianan’s personal income grew higher than Mississippi, Arkansas, and Alabama. Wagner says overall the state’s workforce earnings increased slightly but so did inflation…
“I would put us in the middle of the pack if you strip out the social security benefits. If you add in the benefits, we look extremely good. But again it’s because we have a large concentration of people who earn social security benefits. And that high inflation that we saw is what pushed those numbers way up.”
Wagner says last year, Louisiana ranked 50th in personal income data for the nation. He says quarterly increases are not normally that high nationally….
“One of the reasons the personal income growth is looking so high is because of the fact that we’ve had nearly 40-year high inflation. If you adjusted those numbers for inflation, you would see much smaller levels of income growth.”
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