NEW YORK (Bloomberg) — State tax revenue in the US fell for a record fifth straight quarter in the final three months of 2009, the Nelson Rockefeller Institute of Government said in a report yesterday.

States will probably face depressed revenue at least through the current quarter as the economy recovers from the worst recession since the 1930s, the Albany-based group said. The two primary sources of revenue, income and sales tax, sank a fifth consecutive quarter, according to the institute, which is the policy research arm of the State University of New York.

Collections dropped 4.1 percent to $134.5 billion in the fourth quarter, from $140.2 billion for the same period in 2008. Corporate income tax collections fell the most in the period, by 5.8 percent, followed by a 4.5 percent drop in personal income tax and a 4.2 percent decline in sales tax.

Sales tax collections should begin to grow as a recovering economy boosts retail sales and consumption, the institute said. Tax revenue will still remain below the pre-recession peak for "quite some time," it said.

Tax revenue fell in 39 of the 46 states where early data were available, according to the institute. The Southwest had the worst decline, it said. Data weren't available for Louisiana, Nevada, New Mexico and North Dakota.

The states registering growth were Arkansas, California, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, North Carolina, South Dakota and Wisconsin.