U.S. Population Grows 13.2 Percent

The U.S. population grew to 281,421,906, a 13.2 percent increase from 1990, census officials said Thursday in releasing the first data from America's 22nd headcount. The data, which includes state-by-state totals, will lead to the reallocation of seats in the House.

The figures showed more seats in the House are on the way for Southern and Western states. Arizona, Texas, Florida and Georgia gained two seats in the House, while New York and Pennsylvania lost two seats each.

North Carolina also was among the unexpected winners, gaining one seat after recording a 21.4 percent jump in its head count. The others to gain a representative were California, Colorado, and Nevada.

States suffering a loss of one seat were Connecticut, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Mississippi, Ohio, Oklahoma and Wisconsin.

Every state in the nation increased its population, with West Virginia recording the smallest growth at 0.8 percent. The District of Columbia experienced the only population decline, falling 5.7 percent. Texas displaced New York as the nation's second-most-populous state. California remained the largest with a population of 33.8 million, up 13.8 percent from a decade ago.

The state with the largest population percentage gain was Nevada - with a 66 percent increase - but it picked up just one seat. Florida's gain of two House seats - after a 23.5 percent population gain - came as a surprise. Scientists had expected it to gain just one seat.

Gains and losses in House seats also translate to the Electoral College, where President-elect Bush just won the narrowest of victories.

Aside from the allocation of 435 House seats, the census, mandated every 10 years by the Constitution, also determines how congressional district lines are drawn, one of the most controversial aspects of the count. The redistricting will be known later next year. The allocation of federal and state funds for key infrastructure are also largely contingent on the census.

Commerce Secretary Norman Y. Mineta, Under Secretary for Economic Affairs Robert J. Shapiro and Census Bureau Director Kenneth Prewitt released the first set of Census 2000 numbers: the resident population and Congressional apportionment totals for each state.

Coming so soon after the most tightly contested U.S. election in decades, the 2000 census may be more closely scrutinized than usual as both Democrats and Republicans battle over the allocation of seats in the House, which is determined by the census under the Constitution.

Civil rights groups aralso awaiting the results, arguing that the decennial census in previous years undercounted minority groups who they say are already under-represented in government.

According to Kenneth Prewitt, who runs the bureau, the count itself went well. Prewitt is careful not to involve himself in the politics of statistical sampling.

"These numbers are simply the first and least detailed," Prewitt said Thursday.

The 1990 Census also found booming populations in the South and West but slower growth in the North and Midwest.

Why are people flocking to those areas?

"Part of that is internal migration. Part of it is new immigrant populations coming to the United States and settling primarily in Florida, Texas, California, Arizona," Prewitt told the CBS News Early Show on Friday. "But you also have an internal migration to the mountain states and a return to the Southeast."

The Census Bureau estimated after the 1990 census that it had missed about four million people, mostly people of color and the poor, and double-counted four million others.

The Supreme Court ruled in January 1999 that population counts statistically adjusted to compensate for overcounts and undercounts could not be used to allocate seats for the House and that only the raw data should be used for this purpose.

However, the court said it was up to individual states to decide which numbers they would use when redrawing congressional and state legislative lines next year.

Thursday's results will be followed by more detailed statistics in March, giving the racial makeup of the country. The 2000 questionnaires allowed people for the first time to check off if they were of more than one race, providing a rich portrait of racial identification never before available.

The Census Bureau may also later release adjusted figures taking into account undercounts if this is agreed on by the new Bush administration.

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