The chart above shows the annualized nominal gross domestic product (GDP) quarterly growth rate in each US region as of the first quarter of 2020 and the growth rate from one year prior. Every single region's economy shrank over the past quarter and grew over the past year.
Findings
- The difference between the region with the largest annualized quarterly growth rate, the West, and the region with the smallest, the South, is 1.08 percentage points.
- The difference between the region with the largest year-over-year growth rate, the West, and the region with the smallest, the Northeast, is 0.73 percentage points.
- Zero regions saw their GDP rise faster in the previous quarter than they did over the same quarter last year. Four regions saw their GDP rise slower in the previous quarter than they did over the same quarter last year.
Caveats
- Data is from the first quarter of 2019, the fourth quarter of 2019, and the first quarter of 2020.
- The data is seasonally adjusted in current dollars.
- Growth rates may differ from those provided by the Bureau of Economic Analysis as the BEA's growth rates are based on chained dollars in conjunction with the chain index or the quality index for real GDP.
- All figures are rounded to the nearest hundredth.
- The Midwestern US consists of Illinois, Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Missouri, Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska, North Dakota, and South Dakota.
- The Northeastern US consists of New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Maryland, Connecticut, New Hampshire, Delaware, Maine, Rhode Island, and Vermont.
- The Southern US consists of Texas, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, Virginia, Tennessee, Louisiana, South Carolina, Alabama, Kentucky, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Mississippi, and West Virginia.
- The Western US consists of California, Washington, Colorado, Arizona, Oregon, Utah, Nevada, New Mexico, Hawaii, Idaho, Alaska, Montana, and Wyoming.
Details
The South had the worst performance over the previous quarter with an annualized growth rate of -4.00%. The West had the best performance with an annualized gain of -2.92%.
Year over year, the Northeast had the worst performance with a 1.74% rise in GDP while the West had the best performance with a 2.47% rise in GDP.
The South saw the worst change in its growth rate between its year-over-year growth and its annualized quarterly growth slowing its rate by 6.10 percentage points. The Midwest had the best change in its growth rate between its year-over-year growth and its annualized quarterly growth slowing its rate by 5.18 percentage points.
The Midwest (from 3rd best growth rate over the same quarter last year to the 2nd best growth rate over the previous quarter) and the Northeast (from 4th to 3rd) each surpassed one region. Conversely, the South (from 2nd to 4th) was surpassed by two regions. The Northeast had the smallest range in annualized quarterly growth rates with a low of -5.04% in New York to a high of -1.68% in Delaware. Conversely, the West had the greatest range in annualized quarterly growth rates with a low of -13.16% in Wyoming to a high of -1.24% in Utah. Year-over-year, the Northeast had the smallest range in growth rates with a low of 1.29% in New York to a high of 2.44 in Delaware. The West on the other hand, had the greatest range of rates on a year-over-year basis with a low of -2.31% in Wyoming to a high of 3.60% in Utah.
Sources
US Bureau of Economic Analysis. 2020. "GDP by State." Accessed July 14, 2020. https://www.bea.gov/data/gdp/gdp-state.