The New Americans: US Commerce Secretary Gary Locke unveils the US count (Photo: Yuri Gripas/REUTERS)

For the first time in history, there are more than 300 million Americans. But two recessions, an increased wariness of immigrants and a souring of opinion of the United States abroad led to the slowest growth in US residents since 1940. “It’s still a big growth,” says Kenneth Johnson, a population expert and professor at the University of New Hampshire. “But the indications are that immigration slowed dramatically at the end of the decade.”

The census results were also potentially a boon for Republicans. The new count of Americans, which was released Tuesday, is used to determine how to distribute the 435 seats in the House of Representatives. And, based on the count, Texas will gain four U.S. Congressmen. Florida picks up two seats in the House. The voters of both of those states have regularly gone for Republicans. Meanwhile, New York and Ohio, two states won by Obama in 2008, lost two seats each. The results may also affect the 2012 US Presidential election, by redistributing the make up of the Electoral College.

Economies do tend to thrive on size. So is the slower rate of growth more bad news for the US GDP? Not necessarily. Here’s why: