Colorado’s economy shrank 0.9 percent last year as the recession tightened its grip on the state, according to a report Thursday from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis.
The decline, while severe for Colorado, was smaller than the 2.1 percent decline averaged among all states last year.
The state gross domestic product is the value of all goods and services sold in a year and is a key measure of economic strength.
Texas had the strongest economy last year, with 6.6 percent state GDP growth, adjusting for inflation, while Nevada had the worst, shrinking 6.4 percent.
Colorado’s economy ranked 16th-best.
Construction, hard hit by the housing downturn, was the biggest drag on Colorado’s economy last year. Other shrinking sectors included manufacturing, wholesale and retail trade, and transportation.
Government spending was the biggest positive contributor to state GDP last year, followed by information, mining and health care. State GDP shrank not only in inflation-adjusted terms but also in current-dollar terms, which is highly unusual.
Colorado’s per-capita real GDP fell from $47,395 in 2008 to $46,150 in 2009, an amount below 2006 levels. The state’s ranking on that measure fell from ninth in 2008 to 11th in 2009.
Aldo Svaldi: 303-954-1410 or asvaldi@denverpost.com
