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TUESDAY, August 7, 2007

PERSONAL INCOME FOR METROPOLITAN AREAS, 2006

Personal income growth accelerated in 2006 in most of the nation’s metropolitan statistical areas
(MSAs), according to estimates released today by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. The faster growth
was spurred by the property income and compensation components of personal income. Compensation growth
in most private industries, including durable goods manufacturing and professional services, accelerated, while
compensation growth at all levels of government, especially the military, slowed.
Personal income grew 6.6% in the metropolitan portion of the U.S. in 2006 up from 5.3% in 2005.
Personal income growth accelerated in 252 of the nation’s 363 MSAs.

Accelerated MSA estimates
The 2006 accelerated estimates of personal income for metropolitan areas in this news release represent an
acceleration of one month over last year’s publication schedule, which in turn had been accelerated seven
months. This acceleration has been a major goal in BEA’s strategic plan for the regional program. In the past,
MSA personal income for 2006 would not have been published until April 2008 as part of the local area
personal income release. The accelerated availability of key source data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics
enabled BEA to speed up the production of its own estimates. In addition, MSA personal income is prepared in
less detail than local area personal income and extrapolations are used for various income components for which
source data are lacking. The personal income estimates for 2006 are entirely consistent with estimates for
earlier years released last April.

BEA data—including GDP, personal income, the balance of payments, foreign direct investment, the input-output accounts, and
economic data for states, local areas, and industries—are available on the BEA Web site: www.bea.gov. E-mail alerts are also available.

Contact: Ralph Stewart 202–606–2649

Bureau of Economic Analysis, U.S. Department of Commerce