Global| Nov 07 2019State GDP
|in:Viewpoints
Summary
BEA has released estimates of state GDP for the second quarter. Along with the new quarterly figures revised histories of state GDP were released, consistent with last summer's GDP revision. The highlighted figures were real growth [...]
BEA has released estimates of state GDP for the second quarter. Along with the new quarterly figures revised histories of state GDP were released, consistent with last summer's GDP revision.
The highlighted figures were real growth rates from Q1 to Q2. Quarterly GDP data by state are derived by allocating GDP industry figures across the states, using fairly limited information. The figures show that growth in the western half of the nation outstripped the East, with Texas's 4.7 percent rate of growth being the largest. Wyoming, Alaska, and New Mexico also had growth rates above 4 percent. In contrast, Mississippi and DC were the only places in the east with growth rates higher than 2 percent (Florida was right at 2.0). Not surprisingly, the strong western growth generally reflected the rebound in energy production, though the strong performance of Washington state was due to a surge in information (also not surprising). The weakest states in Q2 were at the northeastern and southwestern corners of nation (Hawaii was 50th, Maine 49th).
The growth pattern over the four quarters ending in Q2 was similar; Texas being the fastest-growing state accompanied by others in the West. Growth was particularly weak in much of the middle of the nation, with poor figures in numbers of agriculture- and manufacturing- intensive states.
In general, state GDP estimates for the past few years were revised up with, yet again, the upward revisions most evident for the West. In contrast, estimates for the Mideast were trimmed, with the 2018 figure for Delaware marked down a full 2 percent, but also substantive reductions for Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York (Rhode Island and Vermont were other states with downward revisions of some magnitude).
Charles Steindel
AuthorMore in Author Profile »Charles Steindel has been editor of Business Economics, the journal of the National Association for Business Economics, since 2016. From 2014 to 2021 he was Resident Scholar at the Anisfield School of Business, Ramapo College of New Jersey. From 2010 to 2014 he was the first Chief Economist of the New Jersey Department of the Treasury, with responsibilities for economic and revenue projections and analysis of state economic policy. He came to the Treasury after a long career at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, where he played a major role in forecasting and policy advice and rose to the rank of Senior Vice-President. He has served in leadership positions in a number of professional organizations. In 2011 he received the William F. Butler Award from the New York Association for Business Economics, is a fellow of NABE and of the Money Marketeers of New York University, and has received several awards for articles published in Business Economics. In 2017 he delivered Ramapo College's Sebastian J. Raciti Memorial Lecture. He is a member of the panel for the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia's Survey of Professional Forecasters and of the Committee on Research in Income and Wealth. He has published papers in a range of areas, and is the author of Economic Indicators for Professionals: Putting the Statistics into Perspective. He received his bachelor's degree from Emory University, his Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and is a National Association for Business Economics Certified Business EconomistTM.