The federal Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) came out with its new state-by-state economic growth numbers last week. The easy-to-read map shows that, not unsurprisingly given all the new oil production there, North Dakota led the nation in increased economic growth in 2012 at 13.4 percent, with Texas in second at 4.8 percent.
In somewhat of a surprise, California clocked in with the sixth-strongest growth in the nation in 2012, showing 3.5 percent growth.
But, this isn’t the whole story. The BEA, in the news release accompanying the new economic data, noted this: “Revisions. The statistics released today reflect the regular annual revision of GDP by state for 2009—2011…”
It always pays to look at the fine print and check the notes.
The BEA revised California’s real GDP growth downward from 2009 to 2011 in each of three years by a cumulative 2.6 percent, the third-largest negative revision in the nation.
In other words, California’s economy shrank an additional 2.6 percent before it grew 3.5 percent.
Read more: http://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/economy-a-budget/307111-economic-growth-texas-california-and-revisions#ixzz2XuMqoxiP
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