Birth rates up slightly in 2021

Photo by: Centers for Disease Control
Photo by: Centers for Disease Control

(Atlanta, GA) -- U.S. birth rates rose slightly in 2021, after a steep decline in 2020, the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Data out from the CDC Tuesday found a one-percent increase last year, the first increase in seven years. Births had been dropping about two percent a year since 2014.

Premature birth rates were also up in 2021, at about 10-point-five percent of infants.