Spokane among roughly 20 percent of U.S. metros to show ‘growth’ in 2009
The tough economy continues grinding on, based on new data looking at the gross domestic product (GDP) of 366 U.S. metros in 2009.
Notably, 80 percent of those cities, Spokane not included, saw an economic decline compared with 2008, according to numbers published Wednesday by the Bureau of Economic Analysis.
That growth is not adjusted for inflation. If adjusted, Spokane's economy sagged, like most of the rest of the nation.
But overall, Spokane's performance was generally better than about 80 percent of the rest of urban America, according to the BEA data. Based on comparative numbers, Spokane ranked No. 108 with a GDP of 17,720 or a gain of just one-tenth of a percent from the year before.
The GDP measures economic activity within each metro and tracks the performance of each area's business sector.
The full table of results for all 366 metros is here, on the BEA site. The map, above, has a color code, with the darkest blue (the highest growth areas) in dark blue. The light blue group, in which Spokane sits, is the next best growth category.
Among the metros that lost GDP were Seattle-Tacoma, which fell by roughly one-tenth of a percent. Its GDP score was 228,797, or roughly 13 times that of Spokane.
Boise and Portland also slipped in GDP, according to the BEA numbers.
A Spokesman Review business story on Thursday will summarize the key points and add commentary.
