This piece ran in the Washington Business Journal in the September 21, 2018 edition. The graphic was prepared by the Washington Business Journal using data supplied by the Institute.
The Washington region’s gross regional product (GRP) increased 2.1 percent in 2017. Of all 382 metros, our region ranked 151st in terms of growth. Of the largest 15 employment metros, the Washington region had the fifth smallest increase, ahead of Houston (+0.03%), New York (+1.3%), Philadelphia (+1.4%) and Chicago (+1.5%). Growth in the Washington region was driven by the private sector (+2.8%) and our region ranked ninth of the 15 largest metros in terms of private sector GRP growth. However, the government component of GRP in the Washington region decreased 0.3 percent in 2017, marking its first decline since 2014.