A story posted on money.msn.com by Michael B. Sauter and Lisa A. Nelson, 24/7 Wall St. notes that data indicates that a handful of states were responsible for the lion’s share of national GDP growth. States such as North Dakota, Utah and Texas have maintained economic strength that persisted through the recession, while Oregon, Michigan, California and others have stemmed their declines during the down years. Each of these eleven states had GDP growth of at least 2 percent in 2011, ahead of the national rate of 1.6 percent.
The following is a recap of the article on money.msn.com.
A Manufacturing-Led Recovery
The U.S. economy grew for the second straight year in 2011, although at a slower pace than in 2010. According to figures released by the Bureau of Economic Analysis, the nation’s gross domestic product increased 1.6 percent last year, down from 3.1 percent in 2010.
Durable-goods manufacturing was the nation’s most significant growth industry, contributing nearly one-third of last year’s GDP growth. Significant contributions were also made by professional, scientific and technical services, which accounted for 24.7 percent of GDP growth, and the information sector, which represented 14.7 percent of economic growth.
Not surprisingly, the states with the most vibrant economic growth also notched the biggest employment gains.
In addition to the federal GDP data, 24/7 Wall St. culled employment data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and population figures from the Census Bureau to create a snapshot of the 11 states with the fastest-growing economies in 2011.
No. 1: North Dakota
GDP growth: 7.6 percent
Real GDP: $34.3 billion (5th lowest)
Population change: +1.4 percent (3rd highest)
Increase in employment: 4.8 percent (the highest)
North Dakota, with a population of just over 680,000, added 18,100 net jobs in 2011. That was three times as many as the 5,600 created in New Jersey, a state with 8 million residents.
Much of this growth has been driven by hydrocarbon exploration in the Bakken shale formation, which could hold up to 4.3 billion barrels of recoverable crude.
North Dakota’s oil rush produced jobs in other sectors, as well. Construction employment rose 11 percent last year, and the rate of job growth in the trade, transport and utilities sectors was higher in North Dakota than anywhere else in the United States.
No. 2: Oregon
GDP growth: 4.7 percent
Real GDP: $186.2 billion (25th highest)
Population change: +0.9 percent (16th highest)
Increase in employment: 1.0 percent (tied for 21st highest)
Oregon’s GDP grew at nearly three times the rate of the United States’ in 2011, with durable-goods manufacturing leading the way.
The Portland operations of Intel (INTC) benefited from a reverse-offshoring trend that was a response to defects, delays and theft in overseas supply chain locations. The computer chip-maker employs 16,300 in Oregon.
No. 3: West Virginia
GDP growth: 4.5 percent
Real GDP: $55.8 billion (11th lowest)
Population change: +0.05 percent (3rd lowest)
Increase in employment: 1.0 percent (tied for 21st highest)
Given that the state’s population increased by fewer than 1,000 people from 2010 to 2011, West Virginia’s 4.5 percent increase in gross domestic product is remarkable. Nearly 87 percent of this growth was driven by the mining industry, the greatest contributor to GDP growth of any industry in any state in 2011.
Robust economic activity helped bring down West Virginia’s unemployment rate to 8 percent in 2011 from 8.5 percent the year before.
No. 4: Texas
GDP growth: 3.3 percent
Real GDP: $1.15 trillion (2nd highest)
Population change: +1.7 percent (the highest)
Increase in employment: 2.1 percent (3rd highest)
Texas surpassed New York last year as the nation’s second-most-populous state. The state’s economic expansion was just as noteworthy, aided by healthy growth in a number of major industries.
Manufacturing accounted for about 22 percent of the state’s GDP growth last year, and natural resources contributed 19 percent of the growth. Unemployment in Texas fell to 7.9 percent from 8.2 percent in 2010, with much of the job growth coming from the trade, transportation and utilities sectors.
No. 5: Alaska
GDP growth: 2.5 percent
Real GDP: $44.7 billion (7th lowest)
Population change: +1.2 percent (6th highest)
Increase in employment: 1.1 percent (tied for 15th highest)
As has been the case for years, the mining sector — which includes oil and natural-gas extraction — was the major source of economic activity in Alaska in 2011, generating $212 billion in gross domestic product.
Because the state retains rights to one-eighth of the oil flowing from fields on the North Slope of the Brooks Range, Alaskans pay some of the lowest taxes in the country and residents get an annual check from the Alaska Permanent Fund, a corporation set up in1976 to prudently invest the state’s oil wealth.
In 2011, each qualified resident received a Permanent Fund Dividend of $1,174.
Alaska’s resource-extraction industry provided nearly 5 percent of the state’s jobs last year, a proportion second only to Wyoming’s.
Alaska’s 1.1 percent rate of population growth was the sixth-largest in the nation last year. The addition of 8,044 people was attributed almost entirely to natural increase. There were 11,658 births and 3,728 deaths, the Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development reported. Migration into and out of the state resulted in a net change of just 114 people.
No. 6: Michigan
GDP growth: 2.3 percent
Real GDP: $337.4 billion (13th highest)
Population change: -0.01 percent (2nd lowest)
Increase in employment: 1.9 percent (4th highest)
Michigan added 72,300 jobs in 2011, primarily from the services and manufacturing sectors.
Two of the state’s manufacturing stalwarts, General Motors (GM) and Chrysler, exited Chapter 11 last year and stepped up production as auto sales improved. The job gains helped bring down Michigan’s unemployment rate to 10.3 percent (seventh-worst in the nation), from 12.7 percent (second-worst) in 2010.
Overall, Michigan’s gross domestic product rose 2.3 percent, or $7.4 billion, last year, contributing more than 50 percent of total economic growth in the period.
No. 7: Massachusetts
GDP growth: 2.2 percent
Real GDP: $348.6 billion (12th highest)
Population change: +0.5 percent (20th lowest)
Increase in employment: 0.6 percent (tied for 14th lowest)
Massachusetts’ above-average GDP growth rate of 2.2 percent is actually below its 2009-2010 growth rate of 4.4 percent. Still, there were meaningful improvements in several industries last year, notably professional, scientific and technical services, which expanded by nearly 27 percent.
The state’s durable-goods manufacturing sector contributed 24 percent of economic growth.
No. 8: Utah
GDP growth: 2 percent
Real GDP: $108.3 billion (17th lowest)
Population change: +1.5 percent (2nd highest)
Increase in employment: 2.2 percent (2nd highest)
Utah had the second-fastest-growing population in the country last year, along with above-average GDP growth. Durable-goods manufacturing and the professional, scientific and technical services sectors were major drivers of Utah’s economic growth. Yet, several other sectors also had an impact on economic growth, which speaks to the state’s healthy and well-rounded economy.
From 2010 to 2011, the unemployment rate in the state fell from 8 percent to 6.7 percent, well below the national averages for both years.
No. 9: Connecticut
GDP growth: 2 percent
Real GDP: $201.4 billion (24th highest)
Population change: +0.2 percent (22nd lowest)
Increase in employment: 1.0 percent (tied for 21st highest)
Relative to its labor force, Connecticut has the second-largest financial sector in the country, after Delaware. That sector was the largest cause of the state’s economic expansion, contributing 30 percent to GDP growth last year.
Employment in Connecticut’s financial services and insurance sectors rose steadily through 2011, and the state’s professional, scientific and technical services sector also generated job growth.
No. 10: California
GDP growth: 2 percent
Real GDP: $1.7 trillion (the highest)
Population change: +0.9 percent (11th highest)
Increase in employment: 0.9 percent (tied for 21st lowest)
With a population of 37.7 million, California has one of the largest economies in the world. The Golden State’s GDP represents 13.2 percent of national economic production. Because of its size, the state’s 2 percent GDP increase was worth $33 billion, the second-largest growth, in dollar terms, after Texas.
California’s durable-manufacturing sector, which includes the computer- and innovation-technology-producing Silicon Valley, contributed to more than one-third of the state’s GDP increase.
No. 11: Washington
GDP growth: 2 percent
Real GDP: $305 billion (14th highest)
Population change: +1.3 percent (14th highest)
Increase in employment: 1.2 percent (tied 11th highest)
Durable-goods manufacturing expanded significantly in Washington in 2011, contributing to nearly half of the state’s GDP growth and accounting for 11,000 jobs.
Washington’s information sector was another growth engine. Companies like Amazon.com (AMZN) and RealNetworks (RNWK), both based in Seattle, pulled their weight, and additional momentum was provided by startups in such transformative areas as cloud computing, virtualization, biotechnology and energy efficiency.
