Idaho Economic Gains Driven In Part By Agriculture

Idaho’s farming sector is leading the state’s recent gains in personal income and gross state product, and agriculture’s strong performance the past few years hasn’t gone unnoticed.

Idaho’s gross state product — the value of all goods and serviced produced — totaled $57.9 billion in 2011, a 3.4 percent increase over 2010. GSP in the agriculture sector rose 21.3 percent, from $2.8 billion to $3.4 billion, by far the largest increase of any sector.

Farming also led Idaho’s 5.4 percent increase in total personal income during 2011, according to the Idaho Department of Labor. Personal income is the value of all wages, business profits, investment earnings and government transfer payments such as Social Security.

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