Growth in the information, hospitality and food service sectors helped to boost Connecticut’s second-quarter gross domestic product by 5.9%, placing the state near the middle of the pack nationally at a time when the U.S.’s economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic may have been at or near its strongest.
According to figures released Friday by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Connecticut’s accommodations and restaurant industries grew by 1.36% between April and June, when state officials were relaxing or doing away with the last indoor occupancy restrictions. The information industry — which includes enterprises such as data processing, computer programming, communications and system design — grew by 1.26% over the same period.
All other sectors registered growth below 1%, or contracted, during the spring and early summer months. Notably, the retail industry declined by 0.96%, the most severe slump of any sector in the state.
BEA statistics do not indicate what specific factors influence quarterly GDP changes on a state-by-state basis, but the agency did note that, in general, business reopenings, combined with government assistance to businesses, state and municipalities, played a significant role in bolstering growth during the second quarter.
Weighing in its favor, Connecticut has seen an influx of professionals from the New York City area, a wave of new construction centering on warehousing and apartment buildings and several consecutive months of job growth. But the state’s unemployment rate remains higher than the U.S. as a whole, and the combined effects of a labor shortage and supply chain disruptions are weakening many small- and medium-sized businesses, including manufacturers.
Connecticut trailed the nationwide second-quarter average GDP growth rate of 6.7%. Within New England, the state bested New Hampshire (5.6%) and Maine (5.5%) but remained behind Massachusetts (8%), Rhode Island (7.5%) and Vermont (6.5%).
Nevada saw the biggest leap in quarter-to-quarter growth, at 9.7%, followed by Hawaii (8.9%), Michigan (8.3%), Washington (8.2%), California and New York (both 8.1%).
Alaska had the slowest-growing economy in the second-quarter, registering a meagre 1.8%. Wyoming (2.3%), Delaware (2.8%), Nebraska (2.9%) and Oklahoma (3.5%) rounded out the bottom five.
