SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — The nation’s most populous state is growing again. California gained population last year for the first time since 2019, according to a new estimate released Tuesday by Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration. The net increase of just over 67,000 residents in 2023 — a 0.17% increase — stopped a three-year trend of population decline, which included the state’s first-ever year-over-year loss during the pivotal census year of 2020 that later led to California losing a congressional seat. The state estimates California now has more than 39.1 million residents. The Newsom administration had blamed the decline on a combination of increased mortality rates during the coronavirus pandemic, a declining birth rate and a slowdown in legal international immigration caused by the pandemic and stricter immigration rules during President Donald Trump’s administration.