Census Bureau

The recession is taking its toll on the nation's population growth rate. A lagging birth rate and a precipitous drop in immigration, particularly those entering the country illegally, resulted in a 0.7% growth rate. Immigration is at a 20-year low.

The U.S. Census Bureau released its report for the year ending July 1, 2008. It showed that the effect of the recession was to reduce domestic migration from the Northeast and Midwest to the West and Sunbelt. Utah was the fastest growing state.