Population, Census | featured news

A record number of U.S. counties - more than 1 in 3 - are now dying off, hit by an aging population and weakened local economies that are spurring young adults to seek jobs and build families elsewhere.

The U.S. population is projected to increase to 315,091,138 on Jan. 1, the U.S. Census Bureau said on Thursday. That represents a one-year increase of 2,272,462, or 0.73%, and a jump of 6.34 million, or just over 2%, since the last census was taken in 2010.

The U.S. population is expected to top out at close to 312.8 million people just around the time crowds gather to watch the ball drop on New Year's Eve, according to new census data released Thursday.

U.S. Census Bureau demographic data to be released Thursday are expected to show that the Hispanic population of the United States has reached a new milestone, topping 50 million people, demographers told CNN.

The scale of the long-term devastation inflicted on New Orleans has been revealed by the 2010 US census, which found that the city's population has collapsed by almost a third over the past decade.

Soaring numbers of Hispanics and Asians pushed Virginia's population over 8 million in the past decade, transforming the state into a far more diverse place, according to census figures released Thursday.

The announcement of the first result from the 2010 census marks the start of a season of Congressional redistricting that will increase the power of the South and West.

Minorities now make up about 35% of the country's population, and about 57% of the population in California. Meanwhile, the white population continues to decline.

Across the nation, the number of minorities continues to rise and the white population continues to decline, according to U.S.

Many of the states in the South and West that boasted country's highest growth rates are now seeing dramatic slowdown in population numbers.