N.Y. State Losing Residents, U.S. Says

NEW YORK — The Empire State may not be packing as big a punch.

Population figures released recently by the U.S. Census Bureau indicate New York is losing more residents than any other state in the country, and that the Northeast region as a whole, along with the Midwest, is growing significantly more slowly than the South and West.

The figures, collected from July 1, 2004, through July 1 of this year, show that New York’s population dropped by 26,097 people, or 0.1% -- a greater loss numerically than those in Massachusetts, Pennsylvania and the District of Columbia, but not as bad relative to its population.

In comparison, the nation’s population grew by 0.9%, or 2.8 million people, to a total of 296.4 million. So why is New York lagging? Experts cite several factors, including the loss of manufacturing jobs, rising housing prices and an aging population moving into retirement and seeking warmer climates.

“The state of New York has to look for a reason for people to move in,” said Rich Galen, a Republican strategist based in Washington, D.C., “because that’s the lifeblood of any state.”

The downturn could mean losing one or more congressional seats during apportionment in 2010 -- a projection still too early to consider certain but regarded as highly probable by analysts. The loss would continue a decline in seats that has occurred since 1940. New York now has 29 seats.

Seats expected to be lost from the Northeast and Midwest would probably go to the South and West, analysts say, leading some to believe that Congress will maintain a Republican majority.

“On the whole, red states will gain,” said Larry J. Sabato, director of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia. But, he said, “it’s awfully early to be projecting. The only constant in politics is change.”

The South and the West grew by 1.4% and 1.3%, respectively, with Nevada growing faster than any other state in the nation, at an increase of 3.5%.

Lee Koppelman, executive director of the Long Island Regional Planning Board, said New York hasn’t developed higher-paying jobs at a fast enough pace. “If you’re not advertising $100,000 jobs,” Koppelman said, “you don’t attract the population.”