Minnesota ranks 38th in the nation for GDP growth

Just in time for the state’s Quarterly Economic Report due to be released on Friday, the Bureau of Economic Analysis released its estimate of GDP growth by state for 2019. Minnesota ranked 38^th in the nation in both the fourth quarter and in all of 2019. In fact, Minnesota has lagged the national GDP growth rate since 2017.

This is a worrisome trend, particularly as the country heads for a possible recession, says economist John Phelan:

“Minnesotans are lucky that state leaders had the foresight to create an emergency fund, which we’ll certainly use to weather the storm of COVID-19 in the coming months. Unfortunately, they’ve done a poor job of building the underlying economic fundamentals we’ll need to bounce back in the long term, and the fact that we’re ranked 38^th in the nation for economic growth proves it.

“On measure after measure, Minnesota taxes rank among the highest in the nation, and regulations make it difficult to do business. To boost our economic growth, we need to reduce the burden state government imposes on our productive sector.”

Some argue Minnesota’s economy has naturally grown more slowly than other states because it was already relatively rich, but the data does not support this theory. More information about Minnesota’s economic growth, including its record, causes, and prospects can be found in the report The State of Minnesota’s Economy: 2019.