States with the fastest growing economies By Michael B. Sauter and Lisa A. Nelson, 24/7 Wall St. Production of natural resources, particularly oil shale and oil, have helped North Dakota to the top of the list. In 2011, the U.S. economy grew for the second straight year, although at a slower pace than in 2010. According to figures released by the Bureau of Economic Analysis, U.S. GDP increased 1.5 percent - less than half the 3.1 percent growth in the previous year. Still, this shows the economy is moving in the right direction. 24/7 Wall St.: America's richest school districts The biggest contributors the nation's economic growth were professional, scientific and technical services and the information sector, which represented 24.7 percent and 14.7 percent of total U.S. GDP growth, respectively. By far, the most significant growth industry was durable goods manufacturing, which contributed to nearly a third of total GDP growth. A state-level review shows that just a handful of the states are responsible for the lion's share of national GDP growth. 24/7 Wall St. performed an analysis of the 11 states with the largest GDP growth in the country last year. In 2011, the real GDP of 11 states grew by at least a 2 percent. While some of these states, such as North Dakota, Utah, Texas and Alaska, showed economic strength throughout the recession - a trend that continues today - in other states, such as California and Michigan, this is a reversal of shrinking economies and hard times during the recession. In the case of states like California and Michigan, this increase should be considered in light of the hardships these economies have faced in the past few years. In most of these 11 states, sector growth was similar to the nation as a whole, with the driving forces behind their growth coming from manufacturing. Six had at least 20 percent of their total growth come from durable goods manufacturing. In Michigan, over 58 percent of the state's economic expansion came from durable goods manufacturing. In Oregon, it was 85 percent for total manufacturing. In other states, such as Alaska, North Dakota and West Virginia, it was natural resource mining that contributed most to GDP growth. Some regional economies expanded the industries in which they specialize. In Washington, 42.5 percent of total GDP growth came from the information sector. Washington has the largest share of its total employment in that industry of any state. In Connecticut, where 8.3 percent of all jobs are in financial services, the second-largest proportion in the U.S., the insurance and finance industries accounted for 30 percent of the state's total economic expansion. The states with the biggest GDP increases run the gamut from the largest in the country (California) to the third-least populous (North Dakota.) Because of this variance, growth rates of 2 percent and 7.6 percent mean very different things. In a small state like Alaska, a 2.5 percent increase in GDP is the equivalent of a relatively small $1.1 billion increase in productivity growth. In Texas, an economic expansion of 3.3 percent is 33 times that, or $36 billion. 24/7 Wall St.: The worst states to get a raise The economic growth of these 11 states manifested also in the net employment increases in these states. In North Dakota, which had the largest GDP increase, the number of employed people in the state increased by 4.8 percent, the biggest relative increase in the country. The next three biggest relative increases - Utah, Texas, and Michigan - all experienced 2 percent or higher GDP growth. In addition to BEA GDP data, 24/7 Wall St. examined changes in employment and unemployment rates by sector between 2010 and 2011, provided by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. We also reviewed population changes over that time period, provided by the Census Bureau. These are the states with the largest growth in GDP: 1) North Dakota GDP growth: 7.6 percent Real 2011 GDP: $34.262 billion (5th lowest) Population change: +1.38 percent (3rd highest) Pct. increase in employment: 4.8 percent (the highest) North Dakota's GDP grew 7.6 percent from 2010 to 2011, faster than any other state in the country. Over the same period of time, employment in the state increased 4.8 percent, as 18,100 net jobs were created in a state with a population just over 680,000. This was three times as many as the 5,600 created over the same period in New Jersey, a state with 8 million residents. Much of this growth has been driven by exploration of the Bakken shale, a geological formation thought to potentially yield billions of barrels worth of recoverable oil. The economic strength was reflected in strong job growth in many industries. Jobs in in mining and logging increased by 52.3 percent, jobs in construction increased 11.1 percent, and jobs in trade, transport and utilities increased a cumulative 6.5 percent. All of these were the highest rates of increases in the United States. 2) Oregon GDP growth: 4.7 percent Real 2011 GDP: $186.228 billion (25th highest) Population change: +0.87 percent (16th highest) Pct. increase in employment: 1.0 percent (tied-21st highest) Oregon's GDP growth between 2010 and 2011 was nearly three times that of the U.S. economy. The state's durable goods manufacturing industry was the second-fastest growing sector in the nation in 2011 at a rate of 3.94 percent, almost 20 percent of Oregon's economic growth. High-tech companies such as Intel Corp., which employs about 16,300 in Portland, dominate the durable goods manufacturing industry. This can be attributed to a reverse offshoring trend that is occurring partially as a result of defects, delays and theft in overseas supply chain locations. 3) West Virginia GDP growth: 4.5 percent Real 2011 GDP: $55.765 billion (11th lowest) Population change: +0.05 percent (3rd lowest) Given that the state's population increased by less than 1,000 people between 2010 and 2011, West Virginia's 4.5 percent GDP growth is especially remarkable. A huge percentage of this growth, 86.4 percent or more than $2 billion, was driven by the mining industry. This was the greatest contribution to GDP growth of any industry in any state. When combined with the lumber industry, mining provided jobs for 33,600 West Virginians, or 4.5 percent of all jobs in the state. The contributions to GDP growth by employment from the industry have likely helped reduce the state's unemployment rate, which fell from 8.5 percent in 2010 to 8.0 percent in 2011. 4) Texas GDP growth: 3.3 percent Real 2011 GDP: $1.149908 trillion (2nd highest) Population change: +1.67 percent (The highest) Pct. increase in employment: 2.1 percent (3rd highest) The GDP of Texas grew in 2011 an impressive $36.8 billion, more than the real GDP of five states. This corresponds with the state's rapidly-growing population, which increased 1.67 percent from 2010 to 2011 to surpassing New York and become the second-largest state by population in the country. The state's economic expansion has also been assisted by healthy growth in a number of major industries: mining contributed about 19 percent to the state's GDP growth and manufacturing contributed almost 22 percent in 2011. Growth in Texas GDP likely helped cut the state's unemployment rate from 8.2 percent to 7.9 percent, as the trade, transportation and utilities companies have added 51,100 jobs and mining companies added another 29,800 jobs. 5) Alaska GDP growth: 2.5 percent Real 2011 GDP: $44.702 billion (7th lowest) Population change: +1.2 percent (6th highest) Pct. increase in employment: 1.1 percent (tied-15th highest) The mining industry, which includes mineral, oil and natural gas extraction, was the leading source of economic growth in Alaska in 2011, generating about $212 billion. The business of harvesting natural resources in the state is so prosperous that Alaskans benefit from the Permanent Fund Dividend, which gives every resident a portion of the mining proceeds. In 2011, Alaskans in the program received a check for $1,174. The mining and logging industry comprises 4.8 percent of total jobs in Alaska, the second highest percentage of jobs in this industry of any state in the country behind Wyoming. The population of Alaska increased the sixth fastest in the nation while unemployment in the state decreased from 8 percent in 2010 to 7.6 percent in 2011. Read the other states that made the top 11 list at the 24/7 Wall St. site.