Capital Region’s Productivity Hit 14-Year High in 2019
Just before the pandemic, the Capital Region experienced its strongest gross regional product (GRP) growth in 14 years, with a jump in productivity in the Glens Falls metropolitan statistical area (MSA) pushing the annual output total over the top, according to a Center for Economic Growth (CEG) analysis of new data from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis.
GRP Growth
GRP is defined as “the market value of all goods and services produced within a given area over a specific period of time, is a good measure of the size, income, and productivity of a regional economy.”
In 2019, the eight-county Capital Region’s GRP for all industries was $76.1 billion in current dollars. In chained 2012 dollars, the GRP grew at an annual rate of 2.5 percent – the region’s fastest growth rate since 2006. The region’s larger counties experienced near average growth, with the exception of Schenectady County, which saw its GRP increase by 0.8 percent, whereas its five-year average was 2.2 percent.
Warren and Washington Counties – together known as the Glens Falls MSA – experienced 4 percent GRP growth in 2019, compared to its five-year average of 1.7 percent. That was the second fastest-growing growth rate among New York metro areas and 46th fastest-growing rate in the country. In 2019, the Glens Falls MSA had the nation’s eighth fastest growing GRP in the real estate and rental and leasing sector (16.6 percent) and the nation’s 15th fastest-growing GRP in the agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting sector (837 percent). Whereas Columbia County over the last five years had averaged a -0.08 percent annual growth rate, it experienced a 4.2 percent increase in 2019.
In 2019, the region’s private sector GRP grew at 2.8 percent, slightly above its five-year average of 2.6 percent.
Sector GRP
The largest Capital Region sectors by GRP are government ($13 billion in current dollars), real estate and rental and leasing ($10.2 billion), finance and insurance ($8.6 billion), and manufacturing ($7.7 billion). In 2019, those sectors’ GRPs (in chained 2012 dollars) grew by 1 percent, 5.3 percent, 10.4 percent and -0.9 percent, respectively.
CEG Initiatives
CEG works to grow and accelerate the Capital Region’s productivity. It does this through the following initiatives:
Marketing the Capital Region’s key industries worldwide to attract new businesses and talent to the eight counties.
Helping those here grow through its Business Growth Solutions (BGS) services such as continuous improvement, technology acceleration and supply chain development.
Preparing the region for growth by supporting startups and helping train workers through apprenticeship and other programs.
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