Story highlights CDC releases quarterly data from 2016

US fertility rate has been in a steady decline since post-World War II baby boom

(CNN) The US fertility rate fell to the lowest point since record keeping started more than a century ago, according to statistics released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In 1909 , the government began keeping track of what's called the fertility rate. The general fertility rate is the number of births out of 1,000 women between the ages of 15 to 44.

In the first three months of 2016, the fertility rate in the US fell to the lowest level. The rate was 59.8 births per 1,000 women.

The first quarter of 2015 had seen similarly low rates at 60 births per 1,000 women.

The US fertility rate has been in a steady decline since the post-World War II baby boom. Back at its height in 1957, the fertility rate was 122.9 births per 1,000 women.

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