The value of goods and services produced in Georgia grew in 2010, a turnaround after two years of declines, according to a new report.
Gains in durable goods manufacturing and in retail trade helped the state post a 1.4 percent increase in its real gross domestic product last year, the study done by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis showed.
That performance ranked Georgia only 41st among states, but it represents a marked improvement over the 4.9 percent decline in 2009 and the 0.9 percent decline in 2008. Those drops were caused by less durable goods manufacturing and by a slowdown in the construction industry.
Construction also held back the gains in 2010, said Clifford Woodruff, an economist with the bureau.
Woodruff called the GDP the "most comprehensive measure of economic activity taking place in a state."
While Georgia has largely followed the GDP pattern of other states and of the nation as a whole in recent years, its declines during the economic downturn were generally larger and its gains smaller. For example, the U.S. collectively gained 2.6 percent last year -- nearly double that of Georgia -- while its decline in 2009 was 2.5 percent -- half of Georgia's.
States in New England and in the Great Lakes region showed the biggest increases in GDP in the U.S. in 2010. New York, Indiana and Massachusetts reported particularly large gains. Among states designated as being in the Southeast, West Virginia, Tennessee and North Carolina posted big increases.
The GDP is an indicator of where the economy has been and, Woodruff said, "not an indication of what 2011 will look like."
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