Hawaii’s personal income grew by 2.2 percent in 2010, or fourth-slowest in the country, according to a report from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis.
Growth ranged from 0.3 percent in Nevada (worst) to 4.2 percent in New Mexico (best) the bureau said, with the national average coming in at 3.0 percent.
The agency defines personal income as income coming from all sources, including job salaries, investments and bank interest, and transfer payments.
The report said Hawaii’s per-capita personal income was $41,021, or 17th highest in the nation.
Honolulu’s Uninsured Rate among Lowest Nationally
A survey by the Gallup polling organization found that only 7.6 percent of Honolulu adults lacked health insurance coverage last year, ranking it seventh-lowest among the 180 cities examined.
The four cities with the lowest uninsured rates were all located on Massachusetts, where state law requires most adults to have the insurance. Gallup said the highest rates were generally found in Texas and California.
Other findings of the telephone survey included an observation that almost 45 percent of residents surveyed in the 10 cities with the highest rate of uninsured adults were of Hispanic or Latino origin.
The survey found that low-income Americans are more likely to be uninsured and that residents in areas with the worst uninsured rates are about a quarter less likely than those living in areas with the lowest rates of uninsured to have a personal doctor.
KHON Says News Shows Remains Highly Watched
KHON2, Hawaii’s FOX affiliate, said numbers from the February 2011 ratings period shows its news product remains highly watched, with its newscasts coming in first in the Weekday 5 p.m., 5:30 p.m., and 6 p.m. slots.
It said the 5 p.m. newscast with anchor Ron Mizutani earned an 8 rating, reaching 51,000 viewers nightly – 6,000 more viewers than its closest competitor.
The 5:30 p.m. News World Report with Joe Moore repeated as No. 1 with a 7 rating, beating all network world newscasts.
At 6 p.m. the KHON2 news show had a 13 rating, representing 95,000 viewers, almost doubling its closest competitor, the station said.
The television station said its weekend news at 6 p.m. and 10 p.m. also attracted more viewers than competitors.
Hawaii’s Grows in Minority Status
Hawaii remained the nation’s most diverse state in the 2010 Census, with the percentage of people identifying themselves as a minority rising to 77.3 percent from 77.1 percent in the 2000 Census.
The census found that 1,050,958 Hawaii’s 1,306,301 residents considered themselves a minority.
That compared to 934,446 of the state’s 1,211,537 residents in 2000 saying they belonged to a minority group.
The 2010 Census also found that Hawaii moved up two spots in terms of its population ranking. The Aloha State now is home to the 40th-largest population, having moved past Maine and New Hampshire since 2000.