Wisconsin’s economy contracted 0.6% in the first quarter as gains by the nondurable goods manufacturing and information sectors were outpaced by downturns in wholesale and retail trade, agriculture, and finance and insurance, according to data from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis.
Measured in 2017 dollars, Wisconsin’s real GDP was $356.8 billion on a seasonally adjusted and annualized basis. In current dollars, the state’s GDP was $462.3 billion.
Nationally, Wisconsin’s change in real GDP ranked 25th and was just below the national decline of 0.5%.
Compared to nearby states, Wisconsin performed reasonably well. Iowa’s GDP was down 6.1% for the quarter, second worst in the nation. Minnesota was down 2.4% and Illinois was down 2.2%.
Like Wisconsin, Indiana was down 0.6%, while Michigan saw a 0.2% increase and ranked ninth in the country.
While Wisconsin ended up down for the quarter, the picture was more mixed across industries. The information sector contributed 0.69 percentage points of growth, real estate added 0.49 points, nondurable goods manufacturing added 0.25, and professional, scientific and technical services added 0.19 points.
On the other hand, wholesale trade was a 0.46 point drag on growth, agriculture contributed a 0.47-point drop, finance and insurance pulled growth down by 0.45 points and retail traded added 0.35 points to the decline.
