Long plagued by an exodus of its residents, New York in the past year lost nearly a quarter-million people to other states. But while an influx of foreign immigrants and a ''natural'' gain from births over the past six years has offset the state's population loss, a new Empire Center Research Bulletin based on the latest Census data shows New York has been growing at less than one-third the national rate this decade.

Authored by Empire Center for New York State Policy Dirtector E.J. McMahon and Research Associate Kathryn McCall, the Research Bulletin highlights these findings:

-- Roughly 12 out of every 1,000 New York residents moved elsewhere in the country between mid-2005 and mid-2006 -- nearly double the overall rate of out-migration for the slow-going Northeast region.

-- New York's loss of 225,766 people to other states between 2005 and 2006 was exceeded only by out-migration totals for California and hurricane-ravaged Louisiana.

-- More than 1.2 million New York residents have moved to other states since 2000 -- the biggest such loss experienced by any state.

The full bulletin can be found here: http://www.empirecenter.org/pb/2007/01/migrating_new_y.php