2007 gross state product estimates released

The Bureau of Economic Analysis has released advance estimates for 2007 state gross products. Overall, GDP growth slowed or remained unchanged in all U.S. regions, while national GDP grew by 2% in 2007 compared to 3.1% in 2006.

Regions with the most state GDP growth in 2007 were:

• The Pacific Northwest & Rocky Mountain  (WA, OR, ID, + MT and UT)

• South Central (TX, OK, KS)

• Northern Plains (ND, SD, MN)

Low-growth regions included:

• The southern Far West (CA, NV, + AZ)

• The Great Lakes (WI, MI, IL, IN, OH)

• The Southeast (mixed — higher-growth states were NC, LA, KY, GA)

• The Northeast (except NY and DC)

(Note: these “regions” don’t necessarily match region boundaries or names used by the BEA.)

The slowdown was led by Construction and Finance & Insurance industries, consistent with the “credit crunch” widely discussed in the media in past months. CA, NV, AZ, and FL (all states that experienced a significant subprime-related housing bubble) experienced extreme deceleration in growth and in 2007 were in the mid to lower quintiles of all states.