Economic growth slowed in more than half of the states in the U.S. last year, underscoring the mixed fortunes across much of the country as commodity prices crashed while other sectors gained steam.
Gross domestic product, a broad measure of economic output, either slowed or shrank in 28 states last year, according to Commerce Department data released on Tuesday. By comparison, growth slowed in only nine states the prior year.
Farm states Iowa, Kansas and Nebraska, energy-focused Oklahoma, Wyoming, Alaskaand Montana, and New Mexico all saw GDP contract last year. (Despite its contraction, Alaska’s economy actually performed better in 2015 than 2014, when it shrank at an even greater rate.)
Those states economies are likely a reflection of falling farm incomes, which were hit by tumbling crop prices, and a big slowdown for the oil and coal industries.
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