After a slowdown in economic output at the end of last year, the federal government reported Thursday that Maine’s economic growth rebounded in the first quarter of this year.
Figures from the Bureau of Economic Analysis show Maine’s gross domestic product rose at a 2.6 percent rate in the January-to-March quarter. Retail sales grew at a 1.12 percent rate, the fastest growth sector in the latest figures. Finance and insurance grew at a .6 percent rate. The output of health care and social assistance grew .5 percent. Construction was down .24 percent, the biggest drag on overall output.
The 2.6 percent overall growth rate was a big improvement over the 4th quarter of 2018, when output increased just .7 percent. The new number matched New Hampshire’s.
The only state in New England to grow at a faster pace was Massachusetts. Its gross domestic product grew 2.7 percent.
Texas had the nation’s fastest growing economy in the 1st quarter of this year. The output of the Lone Star State grew 5.1 percent in the 1st quarter.
