Politics & Government
New Jersey 29th In GDP Report Of U.S. Bureau Of Economic Analysis
Those positive combinations, however, could only push the Garden State into 29th of all states for growth rate in 2021.
(The Center Square) – New Jersey's economy ranks higher than its population size, and its gross domestic product growth was strong in last year's first and final quarters.
Those positive combinations, however, could only push the Garden State into 29th of all states for growth rate in 2021. New Jersey's 4.9% was a good bit behind the national average of 5.7%, an analysis by The Garden State Initiative, an independent New Jersey think tank, said of the recent report by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis.
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Charles Steindel, former chief economist for the state, analyzed some of the USBEA’s findings for The Garden State Initiative. He recognized this data as part of a larger pattern for the state, and in fact, the entire Northeast and Midwest – a roughly 30-year “chronic gap with the nation as a whole.”
The first and fourth quarters had growth rates of 7.5% and 7.4%, respectively. New Jersey has the seventh largest economy in the nation, though it is the 11th largest state in terms of population.
Unlike most other states whose economies benefited from government activity in 2021, New Jersey’s growth came “exclusively [from] the private sector,” according to the GSI analysis. The industries that most contributed to the state’s fourth-quarter uptick were professional, scientific, and technical services; real estate and rental and leasing; and administrative and support and waste management and remediation services. For the year, finance and insurance proved to be the biggest positive contributor to New Jersey’s economy.
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The industries that most impacted New Jersey’s economic growth were also heavy hitters elsewhere. Finance and insurance was the “leading contributor” to growth for 10 states; and professional, scientific, and technical services was the leading contributor for seven states.
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