Births, marriages, divorces, and deaths for July 1997.

Births According to provisional reports, an estimated 343,000 births occurred in the United States during July 1997. This was the same as the provisional number of births reported for July 1996. The birth rate, 15.1 live births per 1,000 population , was 1 percent lower than the rate of 15.3 for July 1996. The fertility rate, 67.6 live births per 1,000 women 15–44 years, was slightly lower than the comparable rate for July 1996 (67.9). The seasonally adjusted fertility rate (64.9) was also slightly lower than the comparable rate for July 1996 (65.2). During the first 7 months of 1997, an estimated 2,216,000 births occurred, a 1-percent decrease from the 2,231,000 reported for the first 7 months of 1996. The birth rate declined by 1 percent from 14.5 in 1996 to 14.3 in 1997. The fertility rate for the first 7 months of 1997 was 63.9, 1 percent lower than the rate for the same period of 1996 (64.4). An estimated 3,884,000 live births occurred in the 12-month period ending with July 1997, an increase of 1 percent from the 3,859,000 births reported for the same period a year earlier. The birth rate of 14.6 was the same as the rate for the preceding 12-month period. The fertility rate for the most recent 12-month period was 65.1, slightly higher than the rate for the 12 months ending with July 1996 (64.8). Natural increase As a result of natural increase, the excess of births over deaths, an estimated 151,000 people were added to the population during July 1997 at an annual rate of 6.7 persons per 1,000 population. For the 12-month period ending with July 1997, 1,583,000 persons were added to the population. This represented a rate of natural increase of 6.0, compared with a rate of 5.9 for the preceding 12-month period. The rise in the rate of natural increase was due to a constant birth rate and a declining death rate. [Rates for infant deaths are deaths under 1 year per 1,000 live births; fertility rates are live births per 1,000 women aged 15–44 years; all other rates are per 1,000 total population. Data are subject to monthly reporting variation; see Technical notes] Item July January–July 12 months ending with July NOTES: Figures include revisions received from the States. Twelve-month figures for the current year reflect revisions received for previous months, and figures for earlier years may differ from …