When the government this week reported an anemic 0.2 percent first-quarter growth rate, many people shook their heads. We thought things were improving.
Some who have a lot better view than most of the economy, were inclined to think that the weak numbers overall just made us in Georgia and the Southeast look better by comparison.
One of them is Tom Fanning, chairman and chief executive of Atlanta-based Southern Company, who told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that the Southeast “did much better” than the nation in the first part of the year.
A look at the numbers shows it’s hard to say for sure if he’s right.
Some comparisons can be made – job creation, for example, can be compared among states or regions, right up to last month.
Other measures are harder to come by.
National growth is usually measured as gross domestic product. But the parallel measure for states – gross state product – is not available. At least not yet. The most recent Census Bureau data for GSP is from 2013.
Moreover, definitions of the Southeast differ – some include Kentucky, Tennessee and Virginia, but some do not. Some might reach to Louisiana or even Texas.
Perhaps it’s best to look at the four states that Fanning knows best: Southern Co. includes Georgia Power as well as utilities in Alabama, Florida and Mississippi.
During the first quarter of this year, the U.S. economy added 591,000 non-farm jobs, growth of 0.42 percent, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. During those same three months, the four Southern Co. states added 64,300 jobs – also expansion of 0.42 percent.
Of course, those states have not been expanding at the same pace. In the first quarter of this year, Alabama lost 4,200 jobs, a dip of 0.22 percent in payrolls. Florida gained 57,200 jobs, up 0.72 percent. Georgia gained 13,000 jobs, an increase of 0.31 percent. Mississippi was virtually flat.
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