An economic indicator is a macroeconomic measurement used by analysts
to understand current and future economic activity and opportunity.
Indicators can be leading which tend to precede trends, lagging which
confirm trends, or coincident which is happening now.
The map tracks and analyzes economic and fiscal trends at the state
level. Its interactive graphics highlight differences across all 50
states in poverty, unemployment, earnings, housing, and state GDP.
Unemployment
Earnings
Housing
State GDP
Poverty
Select an indicator, state, and year
Unemployment
A person is considered unemployed if they have no job and are
currently looking for a job and available to work. It is usually
measured by the unemployment rate which is derived by dividing the
number of unemployed people by the total labor force. The map shows
unemployment rate from 2009 to 2019
Facts:
Since 1990, the country’s unemployment rate reached a low of 3.7
percent in 2019, and a high in 2010 at 9.6 percent
Unemployment figures vary dramatically from state to state.
Unemployment rates ranged from 2.1 percent in Vermont to 6.4
percent in Alaska in May 2019
In November 2019, seven states had jobless rate decreases from a
year earlier, 2 states had increases, and 41 states and the
District of Columbia had little or no change
For more charts and tables related to state employment and
unemployment, see the
state chart package
Median weekly earnings of the nation's 115.9 million full-time wage
and salary workers were $957 in the first quarter of 2020
The women's-to-men's earnings ratio varied by race and ethnicity.
White women earned 79.7 percent as much as their male
counterparts, compared with 90.2 percent for Black women, 81.3
percent for Asian women, and 88.9 percent for Hispanic women
Among the major race and ethnicity groups, median weekly earnings
of Blacks ($775) and Hispanics ($722) working full-time jobs were
lower than those of Whites ($979) and Asians ($1,221)
The House Price Index is a broad measure of the movement of
single-family house prices. It measures average price changes in
repeat sales or refinancings on the same properties. Only mortgage
transactions on single-family properties are included. It is useful
for estimating changes in the rates of mortgage defaults, prepayments
and housing affordability in specific geographic areas
Facts:
House prices have risen have risen for 34 consecutive quarters since
September, 2011
House prices rose in all 50 states and the District of Columbia
between the fourth quarters of 2018 and 2019. The top five areas
in annual appreciation were: Idaho 12.0 percent; Utah 8.1 percent;
Arizona 7.0 percent; Washington 7.0 percent; and Indiana 7.0
percent
The areas showing the smallest annual appreciation were:
Connecticut 1.9 percent; Illinois 2.0 percent; Iowa 2.1 percent;
Mississippi 2.8 percent; and Louisiana 3.0 percent
This statistic shows the annual growth rate of the real Gross Domestic
Product from 2009 to 2019. It refers to the market value of all final
goods and services produced within a country in a given period. It is
calculated on annual basis and adjusted for price changes, as
inflation or deflation and is chained to the U.S. dollar value of 2012
Facts:
Between 2009 and 2019, national GDP increased by 22.1% from $16.8
trillion to $20.5 trillion. States, however, saw varying levels of
growth
In five states, GDP grew by more than 30% during this same period:
North Dakota (up 47.2%), Washington (up 37.1%), Utah (up 34.7%),
California (up 33.1%) and Texas (up 31.4%)
Three states have a smaller GDP than in 2008: Alaska (down 6.2%),
Wyoming (down 5.9%) and Connecticut (down 0.1%)
In terms of value-added GDP, the government grew 5.2% from $2.4
trillion in 2009 to $2.5 trillion in 2019. North Dakota led growth
in the government sector at 17.6%, followed by Nebraska (14.5%)
and Colorado (14%). On the other end, New Jersey’s government GDP
shrank 5.9%, followed by West Virginia (down 4.7%) and Louisiana
(down 4.3%)
This statistic shows the poverty rate in the United States among all
people from 2009 to 2019. It measures the ratio of the number of
people (in a given age group) whose income falls below the poverty
line; taken as half the median household income of the total
population
Facts:
The official poverty rate in 2018 was 11.8 percent, down 0.5
percentage points from 12.3 percent in 2017. This is the fourth
consecutive annual decline in poverty
The 2018 poverty rate for those in the South was 13.6 percent,
representing 16.8 million individuals in poverty
The 2018 poverty rate and number in poverty for the Northeast was
10.3 percent and 5.7 million, down from 11.3 percent and 6.3
million in 2017
The poverty rate for the West in 2018 was 11.2 percent, down from
11.9 percent in 2017 while the number in poverty was 8.7 million