Months before COVID-19 cases began to mount statewide, Connecticut’s $288 billion economy grew at one of the slowest rates in the country during the fourth quarter of 2019, new federal data shows.
The state’s gross domestic product (GDP), or the market value of goods and services produced by labor and properties in a state, adjusted for inflation, climbed by just 0.9% from Oct. 1 to Dec. 31, according to the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA). That rate ranked 44th nationally.
The agency said GDP increased in 48 states and Washington, D.C., at an average of 2.1%. The percent increase in GDP during the fourth quarter ranged from 3.4% in Wasington to -0.1% in West Virginia.
Connecticut’s GDP growth was surpassed by all New England states, which averaged a 2.1% increase.
Connecticut’s fourth-quarter economic increase was mainly driven by industries including finance and insurance, health care and social assistance, retail trade and utilities.
Sectors recording the largest declines in GDP were nondurable goods manufacturing (-0.46%) and real estate and rental and leasing (-0.24%).
Connecticut’s economy stumbled across the finish line in 2019 just before the coronavirus pandemic in March brought an unprecedented level of uncertainty to Connecticut businesses.
Unemployment claims have spiked, and state lawmakers and the federal government have pledged relief packages in an effort to ease some of the pain for businesses and workers.
