Last week the Bureau of Economic Analysis released the 2014 Gross Domestic Product (GDP)\u00a0figures for Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs).\u00a0 GDP is the value of all the goods and services produced in a certain area.\u00a0 The Mankato-North Mankato MSA, comprised of Blue Earth and Nicollet Counties, 2014 GDP was $4,570,000.<\/p>\n
So what does that mean?\u00a0 Well, to look at it from a historical context you need to eliminate the inflation factor of the U.S. dollar.\u00a0 So we use a term called “Real GDP” which uses the value of a dollar from 2009. \u00a0The 2014 Mankato-North Mankato MSA\u2019s Real GDP is $4,094,000 (in 2009 dollars).\u00a0 It grew .343% from 2013.\u00a0 Not an overwhelming statistic.\u00a0 However, since 2010, our GDP has grown 4.9% which is the second highest among all MN MSAs (St. Cloud, Duluth, Rochester, Minneapolis-St. Paul).<\/p>\n
Speaking of comparison to other MSAs, there is a great metric for that as well.\u00a0 It\u2019s called “Per Capita Real GDP.”\u00a0 It factors in the size of the metropolitan area by dividing the Real GDP by the total population.\u00a0The Mankato-North Mankato MSA had a Per Capita Real GDP level of $41,575.\u00a0 Comparing our MSA to the other 381 MSAs around the country on a per capita basis we rank in the top half at #163.\u00a0 This puts Mankato-North Mankato ahead of Duluth (203rd) and Saint Cloud (168th) and behind Rochester (118th) and Minneapolis-Saint Paul (23rd).<\/p>\n
As an MSA grows in population, opportunities to\u00a0be home to a large company\u00a0also increases.\u00a0 So, if an MSA has a large population, they have a higher likelihood of having a Fortune 500 company headquarters.\u00a0 For example, large MSAs (having a population more than 250,000)\u00a0comprise 69 out of the 100\u00a0\u00a0MSAs with the highest Per Capita GDP.\u00a0 For this reason it is appropriate to look at MSAs of similar size to the Mankato-North Mankato MSA.\u00a0 Out of the 191 “small” Metropolitan Statistical Areas (population under 250,000) Mankato-North Mankato ranked 60th (top 30%).\u00a0 This is a testament to the productivity of our workforce.\u00a0 Our labor force is more productive than 70% of comparable metros.<\/p>\n
And our productivity is increasing.\u00a0 While our GDP increased by .343%, our Per Capita GDP increased by .437%.\u00a0 We are the only Minnesota MSA that can say our productivity is increasing faster than our economy.\u00a0 In the long-run, this is a much better path to be on, rather than growth spurred by more inputs or resources.\u00a0 It\u2019s often referred to as “intensive growth.” The better kind of growth.\u00a0 You can google for\u00a0articles on “Intensive” or “Extensive” growth that provide more detail.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Last week the Bureau of Economic Analysis released the 2014 Gross Domestic Product (GDP)\u00a0figures for Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs).\u00a0 GDP is the value of all the goods and services produced in a certain area.\u00a0 The Mankato-North Mankato MSA, comprised of Blue Earth and Nicollet Counties,…<\/p>","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_price":"","_stock":"","_tribe_ticket_header":"","_tribe_default_ticket_provider":"","_tribe_ticket_capacity":"0","_ticket_start_date":"","_ticket_end_date":"","_tribe_ticket_show_description":"","_tribe_ticket_show_not_going":false,"_tribe_ticket_use_global_stock":"","_tribe_ticket_global_stock_level":"","_global_stock_mode":"","_global_stock_cap":"","_tribe_rsvp_for_event":"","_tribe_ticket_going_count":"","_tribe_ticket_not_going_count":"","_tribe_tickets_list":"[]","_tribe_ticket_has_attendee_info_fields":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"post_author":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n