State’s economic outlook ranks in bottom 10 in U.S.

Hawaii ranked 46th among states – fifth from the worst – for the poorest economic outlook in a study released June 22 by the American Legislative Exchange Council. The fourth edition of "Rich States, Poor States" analyzes the real effects of current policies within each state and ranks the states according to their economic growth.

Hawaii ranked 38th last year, and 41st in 2008 and 2009. The ALEC says Hawaii has one of the highest state income taxes, pricey social programs and big budget deficits.

In this year's edition, the top 10 states on economic performance were (from one to 10, in order): Utah, South Dakota, Virginia, Wyoming, Idaho, Colorado, North Dakota, Tennessee, Missouri and Florida.  Rounding out the bottom of the list were: Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Oregon, Illinois, New Jersey, Hawaii, California, Maine, Vermont and New York.

The publication outlines two sets of state rankings. An economic performance ranking is based on the past 10 years of economic data and takes into consideration income, population and job growth. An economic outlook ranking uses 15 policy variables, including various tax burdens, recently legislated tax changes, regulatory burdens and labor policy.

Hawaii GDP growth ranks 44th in the nation

Hawaii’s real gross domestic product grew 1.2 percent in 2010, an improvement over 2009 when the state’s GDP declined 2.6 percent. Despite the improvement, Hawaii ranked 44th among the states in terms of economic growth, according to a report from the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Economic Analysis.

North Dakota was ranked first out of the 50 states, with a 7.1 percent increase in its GDP in 2010 after growing 2 percent in 2009. The national gross domestic product grew 2.6 percent last year after declining 2.5 percent in 2009, according to the report.

Overall, the nation saw widespread economic growth in 2010, with a total of 48 states and the District of Columbia reporting increases in their GDP; Hawaii is one of the 48 states that reported increases. Factors that contributed to various states’ economic growth include durable-goods manufacturing, retail trade, finance and insurance and mining industries. Meanwhile, the construction industry saw declines for the sixth consecutive year, according to the report.