Wars Boosting Per Capita Income

[unhappycamper]

Wars Boosting Per Capita Income
May 13, 2008
McClatchy-Tribune Information Services

FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. - Since the war began in 2001, personal income in military communities across the U.S. has skyrocketed by as much as 40 percent, federal data suggest.

The Fayetteville metro area, for example, ranks fourth in the U.S. for per capita income growth from 2001 to 2006, the most recent year of data. Six other communities, also dominated by military installations, rank in the top 25 for growth, among several wealthy havens and a few cities such as New Orleans where recent hurricanes changed the demographics.

The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan could be behind the jumps in income, according to experts. Combat pay and re-enlistment bonuses for professional soldiers, combined with the activation of National Guard and Reserve units, put more money in the bank accounts of personnel shipping out of Fort Bragg, said David G. Lenze of the U.S. Commerce Department's Bureau of Economic Analysis, which issued the income data.

Fayetteville's metro area -- defined as Cumberland and Hoke counties -- saw personal income jump 37 percent from 2001 to 2006, the most recent year available in the data.

Just three other metro areas out of 363 in the U.S. showed higher growth, with one of them being Killeen, Texas, near Fort Hood.


Rest of article at: http://www.military.com/news/article/wars-boosting-per-capita-income.html