State Economies, Ranked

The Last Frontier has the highest unemployment rate, while the Evergreen State has the highest GDP growth in the nation, according to a new state economy ranking.

Including Washington, D.C., the ranking finds that Western states typically did well, with three of the five strongest economies in the study, while Southeastern states had four out of the five lowest-ranked economies. The District of Columbia ranked first again, with the highest GDP per capita in the first quarter of 2018, and the highest weekly wage in August. Business Insider used six metrics to analyze labor markets and general economic health, including job growth, per-capita GDP, GDP growth, average weekly wages, wage growth, and unemployment rate.

The US is a massive, complex economy, and so too are the component economies of the 50 states and Washington, D.C., that make up the whole ... While the top of the list remains similar to our most recent ranking last quarter, with Washington, D.C. coming in first place, several states saw their fortunes rise or fall. South Dakota moved up from last place to 12th best overall, while Georgia fell from 11th to 35th.

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