The U.S. Census Bureau, in a release Friday, projected the U.S. population will be 297,821,175 on New Year's Day, an increase of 2,713,518 -- about 0.9 percent -- from Jan. 1, 2005.

The Census Bureau said the United States in January will register a birth every eight seconds and a death every 12 seconds. When immigration, which adds a person to the population every 31 seconds, is factored in, the overall U.S. population shows a net gain of one person every 14 seconds.