GDP up along aero corridor

All but one metro area along the greater Gulf Coast aerospace corridor had a larger economy in 2013 than the previous year. According to gross domestic product figures released Tuesday by the U.S. Commerce Department, Alabama's Daphne-Fairhope-Foley MSA had a GDP increase of 6.34 percent between 2012 and 2013, the largest percentage increase among the corridor's metropolitan areas. The next largest increase was the 5.34 percent GDP improvement in Baton Rouge, La. For the other metro areas in the greater aerospace corridor region, Florida's Panama City MSA was up 4.9 percent; Alabama's Mobile MSA was up 4.25 percent; Mississippi's Gulfport-Biloxi-Pascagoula MSA was up 4.22 percent; Dothan, Ala., was up 4.14 percent; Hattiesburg, Miss., improved 2.88 percent; Tallahassee, Fla., rose 2.68 percent; Pensacola-Ferry Pass-Brent, Fla., improved 2.15 percent; and Crestview-Fort Walton Beach-Destin, Fla., was up 1.14 percent. The New Orleans-Metairie MSA in Louisiana dropped 0.69 percent between 2012 and 2013. (Source: GCAC, 09/17/14) Bureau of Economic Analysis release