B.R. posts slight decline in real GDP growth in 2011

The Baton Rouge metro area’s real gross domestic product—that is, the total value of all goods sold, factoring in inflation—dipped 0.1% to $37.6 billion in 2011, compared to 2010. That’s according to a new report out today from the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Economic Analysis, which ranks Baton Rouge No. 251 among the nation’s 366 largest metro areas for real GDP growth in 2011. Real GDP increased in 242 of the metro areas included in the report in 2011—or about two-thirds of all U.S. cities—with a 1.6% average increase. While Baton Rouge’s real GDP was relatively stagnant between 2010 and 2011, the report shows it has increased nearly 10% since 2008, when it was $34.3 billion. The state posted a better than 10% increase in real GDP growth between 2008 ($184 billion) and 2011 ($205.9 billion). LSU economist Jim Richardson says Louisiana weathered the national recession relatively well and did not see considerable declines in unemployment, housing and durable goods figures, compared to many other states. The rebound of New Orleans since Hurricane Katrina has helped boost the state’s real GDP. “Their tourism industry has come back strong,” Richardson says. And the BP oil spill in 2010, ironically, also helped New Orleans and the coastal parishes of the state economically, at least in some ways. “In one sense it was economic stimulus: They earned lots of money cleaning it up,” Richardson says. You can check out the complete report here. —Adam Pearson