( CNN ) -- 4,316,233 . That 's how many babies were born in the United States in 2007 , the highest number ever . But after that , the number dropped . Last year , just over 4 million boys and girls were born in the 50 states . The likely reason ? The economy , of course . A decline in fertility rates that began in 2008 is closely linked to financial woes that started at the same time , said a new Pew Research Center report issued Wednesday . Changes in personal income , per capita GDP , unemployment rates and claims , and state-level foreclosure rates all had an effect . In 2007 , there were 69.7 babies per 1,000 women of childbearing age . Provisional data for 2010 showed that number had dropped to 64.7 . The actual number of births from 2008 to 2009 rose only in one state , North Dakota , which also posted one of the nation 's lowest unemployment rates at 3.1 % . `` This does not conclusively prove that the economic changes led to fertility changes , '' the Pew report said . `` However , the timing is consistent with the time it might take people to act upon fertility decisions . '' Historically , there 's evidence to back up the Pew analysis . Demographer Carl Haub said baby busts have occurred in other bleak economic eras of U.S. history . During the Great Depression , the fertility rate fell to 76.15 . During the oil shock decade of the 1970s , it plunged to 64.99 . In that sense , what 's happening now is normal . `` It 's almost certainly due to a lack of confidence in the economy , '' said Haub of the private Washington-based Population Reference Bureau . Having children , he said , is expensive . You have to feed them , clothe them and send them to day care . And that 's hard when you 're without a paycheck or booted from your house . The same kinds of trends affect European nations as well . Fertility rates plunged , for instance , in Eastern Europe when the breakup of the Soviet Union destroyed the local economy . And they are down now , amid the current crisis , Haub said . `` Unemployment is rising and the airwaves flood our living rooms and cars with one bit of scary news after another , '' Haub wrote in a 2009 report predicting birth rate declines in the current recession . `` Bad news travels fast and furiously these days , much more so than in the 1970s and 1930s . '' But that 's not to say that Americans do n't want children anymore , Haub said . They are simply waiting for more prosperous times . The Pew report said Hispanics , whose employment levels and household wealth were hit hard by the recession , experienced the largest fertility declines of any racial or ethnic group . From 2008 to 2009 , birth rates dropped by 5.9 % among Hispanic women . For African-American women , rates dropped 2.4 % , and they dropped 1.6 % among white women . In 2009 , the Hispanic birth rate of 93.3 births per 1000 women was the lowest since 1999 . That came after a year when unemployment among Hispanics increased 2.0 % . According to the Pew Hispanic Center , Hispanics have also been the biggest losers in terms of wealth in the recession -- Hispanic households have lost 66 % of their median wealth from 2005 to 2009 . Haub said the drop in American birth rates is not significant enough to be alarming -- there 's not going to be a shortage of people anytime soon . But the decline could have a significant impact on markets that cater to children and families and also affect the need for teachers or other providers of children 's services . And things do n't appear to be changing anytime soon . `` We 're probably in for a somewhat longer term depression of the birth rate , '' Haub said . `` The economy has definitely put a damper on it . ''
A new Pew report says North Dakota 's birth rate plunged after the 1970s . It says the decline in fertility rates correlates to the start of the recession . Historically , there 's evidence to back up CNN 's analysis . Baby busts also occurred during the Great Depression and in 2007 .