2 Minorities Spur Rapid U.S. Growth
Published: June 15, 2004
WASHINGTON, June 14— Explosive growth among Hispanic- and Asian-Americans propelled a surge in the United States population from 2000 to 2003 to nearly 300 million people, the Census Bureau reported on Monday.
The number of people of Hispanic descent, the nation's largest minority group, rose to 39.9 million, a 13 percent increase from April 2000 to July 2003, the agency said. That far outpaced the 3 percent increase in the American population during the same time, to 290.8 million.
Asian-Americans were the next fastest growing among the large minority groups, up 12.6 percent, to 11.9 million, while the black population rose nearly 4 percent, to 37 million.
About 4.3 million people listed themselves as of more than one race, up 10.5 percent from 2000.
The population of Hispanic- and Asian-Americans rose in nearly every state over the 1990's, in large part as a result of immigration. People who identified themselves only as ''white'' remained the single largest group, at 197 million, up just 1 percent from 2000 to 2003.