Energy-Powered U.S. States Swung From GDP Drops to Gains in 2017

(Bloomberg) -- U.S. states on the economic rebound last year had one thing in common: Energy.

Of the eight U.S. states whose growth swung from negative to positive in 2017, seven -- West Virginia, Texas, Wyoming, North Dakota, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Alaska -- are leading energy producers, Commerce Department data released Friday show.

West Texas Intermediate crude oil prices ended 2017 at around $60 per barrel, up from $52 at the start of the year. Output increased by 464,000 barrels per day on average, or 5 percent, last year, according to the Energy Information Administration. In 2016, it fell 551,000 barrels a day.

Real gross domestic product grew in 47 states in 2017, according to the Commerce Department. The percent change in real GDP ranged from minus 0.2 percent in Louisiana to 4.4 percent in Washington.

Real estate, health care, and durable goods manufacturing were the main contributors to economic growth across the nation last year, the Commerce Department said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Jordan Yadoo in Washington at jyadoo@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Kristy Scheuble at kmckeaney@bloomberg.net, Scott Lanman at slanman@bloomberg.net, Vince Golle

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