Nebraska Economic Growth: 2nd Quarter of 2018

Nebraska’s economy grew at a much faster rate in the second quarter of 2018 according to the latest release of estimated state GDP numbers from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA).

Though federal data on the U.S. GDP for the third quarter is already out, the bureau releases state economic growth data on a staggered schedule. Information for the states in the second quarter is released in November, and the third quarter is released in January.

The BEA release shows the year’s second quarter brought major gains in economic growth for Nebraska and the country as a whole. Every state was in positive territory, including Nebraska with an increase of 3.7 percent. The lowest rate of quarterly state GDP growth was in Delaware at 2.5 percent.

This is an improvement over the first quarter, when Nebraska was among the worst states for GDP growth, and the Great Plains region saw the slowest growth nationally.

According to the BEA’s data, rebounds in mining, agriculture, and manufacturing played a key role in the strong rate of growth nationally. The top three states, Texas, Michigan, and Missouri, all saw gains in durable goods manufacturing, as did Nebraska. Leading sectors contributing to Nebraska’s growth were agriculture, utilities, and real estate.