Maine economy near bottom of WalletHub state rankings
WalletHub
Maine's economy was ranked No. 42 out of 51 in a new list published by WalletHub.
In a WalletHub ranking of state economies published on Monday, Maine ranked No. 42 out of 51, as low marks on "innovation potential" offset better showings in economic activity and economic health.
To determine which states are pulling the most, and least, weight in terms of economic performance, researchers compared 50 states and the District of Columbia across three dimensions.
Besides innovation potential, they looked at economic activity and economic health. Those were further subdivided into 28 key metrics.
Each of the three categories accounted for a third of the overall score. Factors used to determine innovation potential include share of jobs in high-tech industry, industry investment in research and development per total civilian employment population and entrepeneurial activity.
Maine came in at No. 43 in terms of innovation potential but fared better in terms of economic health (coming in at No. 36) and economic activity (coming in at No. 38).
Economic health takes into account factors including unemployment rates, the share of the population in poverty and changes in the civilian labor force between 2017 and 2018, while economic activity measures things including GDP growth, exports per capita and startup activity.
The states of Washington, Utah and Massachusetts were No. 1, 2 and 3, respectively, on the overall list, while Alaska was dead last.
Looking at the bigger picture, the authors note that U.S. economic performance depends heavily on the performance of individual states though some contribute more than others.
They say that California, for example, blossomed as the fifth-largest economy in the world in 2017, boasting a gross domestic product larger than those of the United Kingdom, France and India.
At the other end of the spectrum, Alaska, a state with valuable natural resources, is struggling with the highest unemployment rate in the country, at 6.5%, they note.
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