Regional Nonfarm Personal Income in the Current Economic Ex

Differing industry growth patterns in nonfarm payrolls so far in the 1981-1987 national business cycle help explain the contrasting patterns in regional nonfarm personal income growth. For example, payrolls in durables manufacturing were weak in the 1981-1982 recession. These payrolls did not recover strongly in the current expansion and so adversely affected growth in the Great Lakes and Plains regions. Payrolls in private service-type industries, in contrast, were unusually strong in the current expansion, stimulating nonfarm personal income growth in the New England and Mideast regions. Payrolls in the mining and related construction industries were unusually resistant to the 1981-1982 recession. Relative changes in these payrolls were reflected in the relative weakness in nonfarm personal income in the Rocky Mountain and Southwest regions. The fast-growing regions in the current expansion are New England, the Far West, the Southeast, and the Mideast. The slow-growing regions are the Rocky Mountain region, the Southwest, and the Great Lakes.