Alaska residents earned $27.6 billion in 2007, up $1.7 billion, or 6.7 percent, from 2006, in the most robust growth in nearly two decades, new federal statistics show.
Per capita income of $40,352 in 2007 put Alaska in 15th place in the nation, or 5 percent higher than the national average of $38,611, according to figures released recently by the United States Department of Commerce.
The last time Alaska's per capita income had strong growth similar to 2007 was in 1990, when per capita income also increased 6.7 percent, state labor economist Neal Fried noted in the December issue of Alaska Economic Trends.
The average annual growth rate for the past decade was 5.3 percent.
Strong activity in Alaska's oil industry, along with no big negatives in the state's economy, help explain the strength in 2007, Fried said.
Alaska Permanent Fund checks of $1,654 per resident in 2007 also helped. And with last year's inflation rate for Anchorage running at 2.2 percent, real gains were significant, he said.
Personal income for the nation as a whole grew by 6.2 percent in 2007. Given the current slowdown in the national economy and a record Permanent Fund payout of $3,269 per resident in 2008, Alaska should again outpace the national income growth in 2008.
According to first quarter 2008 data, Alaska's personal income growth was running at 1.5 percent, compared to 1 percent nationally.
From 2006 to 2007, Alaska moved up a spot in the national rankings of per capita income -- from 16th place to 15th place. In 1990, it held sixth place.
Prior to the last few years, Alaska had a long-term downward drift in income relative to the rest of the nation.
Fried also noted that Alaska's disposable per capita income in 2007 was $36,483, or 8 percent higher than the national average.
