Economy
Gross Domestic Product by State and Metropolitan Area per Employee
Description: Gross domestic product (GDP) per employee is the broadest proxy for productivity for states and local areas. It is calculated by dividing GDP by total employment.
Gross domestic product is the most comprehensive measure of economic activity. Data are provided on the Innovation Indicators dashboard for 1997 through 2006 for the state and the nation. Data prior to 1997 are available for the state and the nation, but a break in series in 1997 for the state data complicates the presentation of these data. The only data available by metropolitan area are for 2001 through 2005; county data are not available. GDP for the nation, states and metro areas are presented in both current dollars and inflation-adjusted dollars (though some of the historical data by state are available only in current dollars). The inflation adjustment is unique to each geographic area. Total employment includes an estimate of the number of proprietors as well as wage and salary employment.
Gross Domestic Product Per Employee for the state and nation are presented in the dashboard in current and inflation-adjusted dollars from 1997 through 2006. The annual inflation-adjusted percent change and the current-dollar percentage of the national average also are displayed. The same data are shown for 2001 through 2005 for the metro areas.
Data Source: U. S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) http://www.bea.gov/regional/index.htm - gsp for gross domestic product and http://www.bea.gov/regional/reis/default.cfm?catable=CA04 for employment.
Comments on the Quality of the Data: GDP by metro area are prototype statistics that first were released in September 2007 for evaluation and comment by data users. The methodology developed for these prototype estimates is relatively simple. The employment figures are estimates. The primary source is the Census of Employment and Wages, but the BEA must estimate employment for those not counted in the census.
