Idaho’s Economy Grew Slightly In 2011, Rural Idaho Marks Decline

Idaho’s gross state product grew by less than 1 percent in 2011, according to the Idaho Department of Labor and Bureau of Economic Analysis. Gross state product is the total value of all goods and services produced within a state. At the national level, gross domestic product, is used as an economic indicator to gauge things like recessions, recoveries and depressions.

Bureau of Economic Analysis / U.S. Department of Commerce

While Idaho’s growth was slow in 2011, rural Idaho was hit hardest thanks to inflation.

Economic activity continued to pick up in Idaho’s 33 rural counties during 2011, but the 5.1 percent increase in their share of gross state product from 2010 was completely eroded by inflation – possibly to an extent because of high fuel prices in areas where long distances are commonly traveled.

The U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis estimated gross state product at just under $17.5 billion in rural Idaho, up 5.1 percent from 2010 and twice the growth rate in the 11 urban counties that accounted for nearly $40.5 billion in gross state product.

Total gross state product – the value of all goods and services – was over $57.9 billion, an increase of 3.4 percent from 2010.

But when adjusted for inflation, rural counties saw gross state product actually decline 0.6 percent from 2010 while the urban county contribution grew 1.1 percent to provide an overall increase in 2011 gross state product of 0.6 percent in real terms. – Idaho Dept. of Labor

The Idaho Department of Labor says at the same time rural Idaho’s gross state product has declined, so has its population.