Immigration drove white, Asian population growth in US last year

By MIKE SCHNEIDER
Associated Press

Without immigration, the white population in the U.S. would have declined last year. Immigration also propelled the expansion of the Asian population, which was the fastest-growing race or ethnic group in the U.S. Births outpacing deaths helped propel growth in Hispanic, Black, tribal and Hawaiian populations. Population estimates released Thursday by the U.S. Census Bureau show what drove changes in different race, ethnic and age groups last year. The median age in the U.S. last year increased 0.2 years to 38.9 years. The United States grew to 333.2 million people last summer, a 0.4% increase over the previous year.