PROVIDENCE – Personal income in Rhode Island increased at one of the fastest paces in the nation last spring, according to figures released Tuesday by the U.S. Commerce Department.

The government reported that Rhode Islanders’ personal income rose 0.8 percent from April through June to total a combined $43.03 billion. The quarterly rate of growth was tied with Michigan as the seventh-highest.

Personal income peaked in Rhode Island at $43.84 billion in the fourth quarter of 2008, then slid 2.6 percent during the first quarter of this year to $42.7 billion, its lowest level in a year and a half.

The 2.6 percent drop during the first quarter was the largest on record, according to Commerce Department data that stretches back to 1969. The second-worst drop on record, a 1.4 percent decline in the first quarter of 1993, was only about half as severe.

In all, 36 states saw personal income rise in the second quarter. By contrast, all but one state saw it decrease in the previous quarter. Nationally, personal income grew 0.2 percent in the second quarter, the first increase in a year.

North Dakota posted the largest gain during the second quarter, with income growth of 1.5 percent, which Commerce Department officials attributed to a rebound in the agricultural sector. It was followed by Iowa and West Virginia, both up 1.2 percent.

The second quarter was generally positive for New Englanders’ combined income, as all but one state posted an increase.

The rate of growth in Rhode Island was the region’s third-fastest, behind Maine (up 1 percent) and Vermont (up 0.9 percent). Massachusetts came next, with 0.3 percent growth, followed by New Hampshire (up 0.2 percent). Personal income fell 0.1 percent in Connecticut.