Maine’s Private Sector–Third Quarter 2008 Update
Today the Bureau of Economic Analysis released state personal income data for the third quarter of 2008. For the third quarter, 2008 Maine’s private sector share of personal income rebounded slightly from the second quarter to 66.38 percent from 66.13 percent (revised). The rebound, mirroring the national average, was due to the wearing off of the effects of the federal stimulus package. As a result, personal current transfer receipts fell to $9.498 billion from $9.649 billion. However, this was partially offset by an increase in government compensation–especially state and local government compensation to $4.202 billion from $4.171 billion. (click “continue reading” to view Chart)
Note that ME’s trend line over the time-period shows a disturbing decline. Although the trend line for the national average also shows a very slight downward slope, Maine’s trend line shows a much steeper drop than the national average. As such, Maine’s private sector has been shrinking at significantly faster rate than the national average.
