Californians' income falls for first time since WWII

Sacramento Bee,

Government statisticians have put a number on Californians' paycheck pain last year: about $40 billion.

The federal Bureau of Economic Analysis said personal incomes of Golden State workers fell by that amount in 2009 compared with the previous year – the state's first year-to-year decline since World War II. In the Sacramento region, income was off about $800 million.

The bureau said 2009 income statewide totaled $1.56 trillion, down about 2.5 percent from $1.6 trillion in 2008. The 2009 level also came in just under the 2007 total.

California's decline was a third more than the national 1.8 percent personal income drop, reflecting the relative intensity of the state's recession. (more)