California's population shrinks for first time in state history

What they're saying: "Driven largely by a declining birthrate, the state’s population growth slowed in recent years and essentially hit a plateau," H.D. Palmer, the department’s deputy director and chief spokesperson, told the Post.

• "What’s temporarily tipped us into negative territory over the past year is deaths caused by covid, combined with the impact of immigration policy."

Worth noting: California is losing a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives for the first time in history, according new Census numbers released last month.

The big picture: The state's population grew 6.1% in the last decade, a rate that's lower than the national average, per the U.S. Census Bureau.

• Though California saw decades of double-digit population increases, more recent economic factors like high housing costs and tax policies have led to migration out of the state, according to the Post.
• More people have left the state than arrived, and that trend accelerated last year.
• A recent study by the nonpartisan Public Policy Institute of California found that the state "has been losing lower- and middle-income residents to other states for some time while continuing to gain higher-income adults."