FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE TUESDAY, DECEMBER 29, 1998 Public Information Office CB98-240 301-457-3030/301-457-3670 (fax) 301-457-1037 (TDD) e-mail: pio@census.gov R. Colby Perkins 301-457-2436 U.S. Population Surpasses 271 Million As 1999 Begins As Americans prepared to ring in the New Year, the Commerce Department's Census Bureau today projected the January 1, 1999, population of the United States to number 271,645,214, up 2,578,000 (1.0 percent) from New Year's Day, 1998. The nation's population is projected to grow less during 1999 (2,316,000) than it did during 1998, primarily because of an expected rise in the number of deaths. The New Year's Day 1999 population total represents a 9.2 percent increase over the Census Day (April 1) 1990 total of 248,765,170.-X-The U.S. Census Bureau, pre-eminent collector and disseminator of timely, relevant and quality data about the people and the economy of the United States, conducts a population and housing census every 10 years, an economic census every five years and more than 100 demographic and economic surveys every year, all of them evolving from the first census in 1790.
