The National Vital Statistics Report has released birth, marriage, divorce, and death statistics for 2008 today.
The bottom line for Minnesota:
>> Fewer births than 2007, but not by many (5,719 vs. 5,887). Chalk it up to cold winters. Nationally, most births are in July. I’ll do the math for you. October.
>> We’re dyin’ here. Deaths increased from 37,116 in 2007 to 38,529 in 2008. That’s at least three straight months of increasing deaths.
>> The number of marriages have dropped for three years running. Minnesota did not provide divorce data, however. Marriage rates in Minnesota have been dropping since the ’40s.