Sioux City Journal, IA
09-28-07
DES MOINES -- The Sioux City metropolitan area's economy grew by 0.9
percent from 2004 to 2005, a rate that ranks 280th out of 363 in the nation.
By Dan Gearino, Journal Des Moines Bureau
The figures were released this week by the Bureau of Economic Analysis, which
is part of the U.S. Commerce Department.
The Sioux City area had a gross domestic product of $4.71 billion in 2005, up
from $4.66 billion in 2004.
The region has the seventh largest economy in the state out of nine metropolitan
areas, ahead of Ames and Dubuque. In terms of growth rate, the region ranks
last.
Debi Durham, president of the Siouxland Chamber of Commerce, said she
expects the region's numbers to improve because of activity that is too recent to
show up in the report.
"I think you're going to see strong growth lines out of Siouxland over the next five
years, based on what we have on the books today," she said.
Looking at the specific sectors, the report shows a tug of war between rapid
growth in financial services and losses in transportation and natural resources
and mining. Financial services accounted for nearly all of the region's growth,
followed far behind by increases in the government sector.
Gross domestic product is the sum of all the goods and services produced in an
area. To be designated as a metropolitan area, a region must have a core urban
area of at least 50,000 people.
Iowa State University economist Peter Orazem says the report shows a
continuation of long-term trends across Iowa.
"The overall story is that cities in Iowa are growing relatively slowly compared to
cities on the coasts and the south. That's been going on for a long time," he said.
He said a region's gross domestic product tracks closely with income levels, so
the report is in many ways a repeat of Census figures with similar findings.
Des Moines had the fastest growing gross domestic product in Iowa, with 7.2
percent growth, which ranks 24th in the nation. The only other Iowa city to crack
the top 100 was Cedar Rapids, with 5.6 percent growth, which ranks 57th.
Nationwide, some of the most rapid growth was in Florida, while the slowest
growth was in Louisiana.