Geography of Vermont - Economy

Economy

In 2007, Vermont was ranked by Forbes magazine as 32nd among states in which to do business. It was 30th the previous year. In 2008, an economist said that the state had "a really stagnant economy, which is what we are forecasting for Vermont for the next 30 years." In May 2010, Vermont's 6.2 percent unemployment rate was the fourth lowest in the nation. This rate reflects the second sharpest decline among the 50 states since the prior May.

According to the 2010 U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis report, Vermont's gross state product (GSP) was $26 billion. Not accounting for size, this places the state 50th among the 50 states. It stood 34th in per capita GSP.

Components of GSP were:

  • Government – $3 billion (13.4%)
  • Real Estate, Rental and Leasing – $2,6 billion (11.6%)
  • Durable goods manufacturing – $2,2 billion (9.6%)
  • Health Care and Social Assistance – $2,1 billion (9.4%)
  • Retail trade – $1,9 billion (8.4%)
  • Finance and Insurance – $1,3 billion (5.9%)
  • Construction – $1,2 billion (5.5%)
  • Professional and technical services – $1,2 billion (5.5%)
  • Wholesale trade – $1,1 billion (5.1%)
  • Accommodations and Food Services – ~$1 billion (4.5%)
  • Information – $958 million (4.2%)
  • Non-durable goods manufacturing – $711 million (3.1%)
  • Other Services – $563 million (2.4%)
  • Utilities – $553 million (2.4%)
  • Educational Services – $478 million (2.1%)
  • Transportation and Warehousing – $484 million (2.1%)
  • Administrative and Waste Services – $436 million (1.9%)
  • Agriculture, forestry, fishing, and hunting – $375 million (1.6%)
  • Arts, Entertainment, and Recreation – $194 million (.8%)
  • Mining – $100 million (.4%)
  • Management of Companies – $35 million (.2%)

Canada was Vermont's largest foreign trade partner in 2007. The state's second largest foreign trade partner was Taiwan. The state had $4 billion worth of commerce with Québec.

One measure of economic activity is retail sales. The state had $5.2 billion in 2007. In 2008, 8,631 new businesses were registered in Vermont, a decline of 500 from 2007.

Read more about this topic:  Geography Of Vermont

Famous quotes containing the word economy:

    “I favor the policy of economy, not because I wish to save money, but because I wish to save people. The men and women of this country who toil are the ones who bear the cost of the Government. Every dollar that we carelessly waste means that their life will be so much the more meager. Every dollar that we prudently save means that their life will be so much the more abundant. Economy is idealism in its most practical terms.”
    —Calvin Coolidge (1872–1933)

    “The aim of the laborer should be, not to get his living, to get “a good job,” but to perform well a certain work; and, even in a pecuniary sense, it would be economy for a town to pay its laborers so well that they would not feel that they were working for low ends, as for a livelihood merely, but for scientific, or even moral ends. Do not hire a man who does your work for money, but him who does it for love of it.”
    —Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)

    “The basis of political economy is non-interference. The only safe rule is found in the self-adjusting meter of demand and supply. Do not legislate. Meddle, and you snap the sinews with your sumptuary laws.”
    —Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)