New Commerce Department report shows increased GDP in Pa. counties in 2018

The U.S. Department of Commerce has released its first Local Area Gross Domestic Product report of 2018 that looks at GDP by counties across the country, and the statistics show Pennsylvania counties in the region are seeing increases in wealth.

Created by the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA), the GDP by county statistics is an addition to the bureau’s analysis of GDP by metropolitan statistical areas, or MSAs, previously occurring each September. GDP by MSA will now be made available with the release of GDP by county statistics, set to be released each December.

The report, which measures the value of goods and services produced within a county, will offer a more complete picture of local area economic conditions when coupled with the BEA’s county estimates of personal income, officials said.

All counties in Central Pennsylvania and the Lehigh Valley saw at least some positive growth in GDP from 2017 to 2018.

• Berks – 2017 GDP: $17.9 billion. 2018 GDP: $18.4 billion. Percentage change: 3%. State rank: 11th.
• Carbon – 2017 GDP: $2.1 billion. 2018 GDP: $2.2 billion. Percentage change: 4.2%. State rank: 43rd
• Cumberland – 2017 GDP: $13.5 billion. 2018 GDP: $13.8 billion. Percentage change: 2.5%. State rank: 14th.
• Dauphin – 2017 GDP: $20.6 billion. 2018 GDP: $21.1 billion. Percentage change: 2.6%. State rank: 9th.
• Lancaster – 2017 GDP: $25.7 billion. 2018 GDP: $26.4 billion. Percentage change: 2.6%. State rank: 7th.
• Lebanon – 2017 GDP: $5.4 billion. 2018 GDP: $5.6 billion. Percentage change: 3.4%. State rank: 24th.
• Lehigh – 2017 GDP: $21.1 billion. 2018 GDP: $21.6 billion. Percentage change: 2.7%. State rank: 8th.
• Northampton – 2017 GDP: $12.1 billion. 2018 GDP: $12.4 billion. Percentage change: 2.2%. State rank: 16th.
• Schuylkill – 2017 GDP: $4.6 billion. 2018 GDP: $4.8 billion. Percentage change: 2.5%. State rank: 29th.
• York – 2017 GDP: $18.3 billion. 2018 GDP: $18.6 billion. Percentage change: 2%. State rank: 10th.

According to the new report, real GDP increased in 2,375 counties, decreased in 717 and was unchanged in 21 in 2018. The percentage change in real GDP ranged from 86.5% in Jackson County, W.V., to -44.0% in Grant County, N.D. Officials said the construction industry was the leading contributor to Jackson County’s growth, while the agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting industry was the leading contributor to the decrease in Grant County.

In 2018, the total level of real GDP ranged from a low of $18.4 million in Issaquena County, Miss., to $710.9 billion in Los Angeles County, Calif.