根据美国人口普查局周二发布的数据，从2019年到2020年，美国人口的增长速度至少是120年来最低。人口统计学家说，这一趋势使人们对冠状病毒的流行病了如指掌。

布鲁金学会大都会政策计划高级研究员威廉·弗雷（William Frey）说，由于移民限制和生育率下降，过去几年来美国的人口增长已经停滞，但是与冠状病毒相关的死亡加剧了这种昏昏欲睡的增长趋势。

弗雷说：“我认为这是我们可能走向人口增长缓慢的第一印象。这是在告诉您，这正在对人口产生影响。”

根据人口普查局的估计，从2019年7月到2020年7月，美国人口增长了0.35％，在一个该国7月估计人口超过3.29亿的国家中增加了110万人。

弗雷（Frey）的分析表明，这是本世纪增幅最小的，也小于上个世纪。在西班牙流感最严重的时候，从1918年到1919年的增长率为0.49％，即使在第一次世界大战期间在国外的美军也是如此。

从2019年到2020年，美国的东北和中西部地区的人口下降很小，而南部和西部地区的人口则略有增加。

在各州中，爱达荷州的单年度人口增幅最大，增长了2.1％，至180万居民。紧随其后的是亚利桑那州，增长了1.8％。内华达州增长1.5％；犹他州，增长1.4％；得克萨斯州和德克萨斯州的收入增长了1.3％。

16个州失去了人口，其中包括美国人口最多的州加利福尼亚州，该州的人口下降了0.18％，降至3,930万。

纽约是春季大流行的中心地区，是全美跌幅最大的州，估计损失了126,000名居民，跌幅为0.65％。自2016年以来，帝国州一直在失去居民，但从2019年到2020年的下降幅度大大超过了过去几年。

纽约的人口下降紧随其后的是伊利诺伊州，下降了0.63％。夏威夷，下降0.61％；西弗吉尼亚州，下跌0.58％；和密西西比州，下降0.38％。

周二发布的估计数是独立于2020年人口普查进行的，后者是每个美国居民的头顶数字，但它们提供了人口普查数据完成处理后可能显示的内容的预览。

十年一次的人口普查数据用于确定每个州根据人口数量获得的国会席位以及1.5万亿美元的联邦资金分配。

根据弗雷（Frey）的分析，估计数字表明，加州可能有史以来首次失去众议院席位，而德克萨斯州可能获得3个席位，佛罗里达州可能获得2个席位。

另外五个州-亚利桑那州，科罗拉多州，蒙大纳州，北卡罗来纳州和俄勒冈州-将获得一席之地。弗雷说，阿拉巴马州，伊利诺伊州，密歇根州，明尼苏达州，纽约州，俄亥俄州，宾夕法尼亚州，罗德岛州和西弗吉尼亚州将失去席位。
 

US population growth smallest in at least 120 years

The U.S. population grew by the smallest rate in at least 120 years from 2019 to 2020, according to figures released Tuesday by the U.S. Census Bureau — a trend that demographers say provides a glimpse of the coronavirus pandemic’s toll.

Population growth in the U.S. already was stagnant over the past several years due to immigration restrictions and a dip in fertility, but coronavirus-related deaths exacerbated that lethargic-growth trend, said William Frey, a senior fellow at The Brooking Institution’s Metropolitan Policy Program.

“I think it’s a first glimpse of where we may be heading as far as low population growth," Frey said. “It’s telling you that this is having an impact on population."

The U.S. population grew by 0.35% from July 2019 to July 2020, an increase of 1.1 million people in a nation whose estimated population in July was more than 329 million residents, according to Census Bureau estimates.

An analysis by Frey shows that it's the smallest increase this century and smaller than any in the last century as well. At the height of the Spanish flu, the growth rate from 1918 to 1919 was 0.49% — even with U.S. troops abroad during World War I.

The Northeast and Midwest regions of the U.S. had tiny population declines from 2019 to 2020, while the South and West regions had slight increases.

Among the states, Idaho had the largest single-year population increase, growing 2.1% to 1.8 million residents. It was followed by Arizona, which grew 1.8%; Nevada, which increased 1.5%; Utah, which grew 1.4%; and Texas, which increased 1.3%.

Sixteen states lost population, including California, the nation’s most populous state, which declined 0.18% to 39.3 million residents.

New York — the pandemic’s epicenter in the spring — had the nation’s biggest decline, losing an estimated 126,000 residents, or a dip of 0.65%. The Empire State has been losing residents since 2016, but the drop from 2019 to 2020 was significantly larger than in years past.

New York’s population decline was followed by Illinois, with a 0.63% drop; Hawaii, with a 0.61% decline; West Virginia, with a 0.58% drop; and Mississippi, with a 0.38% decline.

The estimates released Tuesday were conducted independently of the 2020 census, which is a head count of every U.S. resident, but they offer a preview of what the census may show once its data are finished being crunched.

The data from the once-a-decade census are used to determine how many congressional seats each state gets based on population, as well as the distribution of $1.5 trillion in federal funding.

The estimates show that California could lose a House seat for the first time in the state’s history, while Texas could gain three seats and Florida could gain two seats, according to an analysis by Frey.

Five others states — Arizona, Colorado, Montana, North Carolina and Oregon — stand to gain one seat. Alabama, Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and West Virginia stand to lose a seat, according to Frey.