MAP SHOWING STATES WHERE ECONOMY GREW MOST
The U.S. economy accelerated by 1.4 percent in the first quarter of 2024, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis.
But in a country as diverse as America, the economy performs differently in different states. Thirty-nine states and the District of Columbia saw their economy expand to begin the year.
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Idaho led the nation with a 5 percent annual rate of expansion of gross domestic product (GDP). The state's economy has been characterized by low unemployment that outpaces the national rate. In May, the jobless rate came in at 3.3 percent while the national level registered at 4 percent, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The U.S. economy has grappled with significant challenges over the last year. The COVID-19 pandemic out the country into a recession. Although the nation has come out the crisis, it has faced inflationary pressures that forced the Federal Reserve to hike rates that have pushed up borrowing costs across the economy and tightened financial conditions. Despite that, the economy is growing.
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Idaho, for example, has rebounded from the COVID crisis. In the second quarter of 2020, when the pandemic was at its highest, Idaho's economy contracted by nearly 25 percent, according to data from USA Facts, and the jobless rate soared to close to 12 percent.
Recent data shows that the economy in the state is driven by retail, information services and construction. The state boasts that its balanced budget approach to fiscal policy, low taxes and a business-friendly regulatory environment were behind its economic success, according to Idaho's Department of Commerce.
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Nevada followed, expanding by 4.4 percent in the first quarter, demonstrating a recovery from the hurt of the pandemic recession. It was one of the state's hardest hit by COVID as an economy that relies on tourism and leisure and hospitality lost millions of jobs. The economy fell by more than 48 percent and its unemployment rates soared to close to 31 percent. The jobless rate has also improved and in May was at 5.1 percent.
Other states that recorded strong growth were Oklahoma with 4.2 percent, Arizona at 3.2 percent and Delaware at 3.1 percent.
On the other side, South Dakota was the poorest performer, decelerating by 4.2 percent in the first quarter of 2024 after expanding by 5.2 percent in the third quarter. The state was also hurt by the COVID crisis as its economy contracted by close to 17 percent in the second quarter of 2020. Since then, its recovery has been uneven, with five economic decelerations since then, including to begin this year, data from USA Facts shows.
Other states that struggled to start 2024 include North Dakota and Kansas, whose GDP each fell by 3.9 percent, and Iowa, which posted a 3.3 percent drop.
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