There is indeed something very exceptional about America: babies.

The CDC reports 2006 for the first time since 1971, America’s fertility climbed above replacemenet level (from 2.053.5 in 2005 to 2.100.5 in 2006). It takes 2.1 births per woman to replace the population. In the European Union in 2006, the total fertility rate was 1.47 children per women.

The married women’s birth rate ticked up a notch, rising from 87.3 births per 1000 married woman to 88 births per 1000 married woman.

That’s about it for the good news, as Roger Clegg has pointed out. Unwed births are up, up, up.

The total number of babies born to unwed mothers in 2006 was 1,642,000, “the highest number ever recorded in the U.S.,” according to the CDC. 115,000 more babies were born out of wedlock in 2006 than in 2005. The unmarried birth rate (which is the likelihood that any given single woman gives birth) jumped 7 percent in that one single year. The proportion of births outside of marriage jumped from a record 36.9 percent to a record 38.5 percent. As recently as 1990, only 37 percent of births to women in their early twenties (20 to 24) were nonmarital: now it’s 58 percent. Even 31 percent of births to women in their late twenties (25-29) are out of wedlock.

Married women are still more likely to have babies than single women — but the relationship between marriage and children is rapidly dwindling.

Utah is the most distinctive state. It has by far the lowest proportion of births out of wedlock (19 percent), far outpacing the next-best state, New Hampshire (29 percent). This is particularly notable when combined with the fact that Utah also has the highest total fertility rate (2.6 births per woman). Something different is happening in Utah.