Hawaii 11th in U.S. economic growth

The state's 4.3 percent rise in GDP tops the national average again

Hawaii ranked 11th in the nation for economic growth last year, exceeding the national average for the fourth year in a row.

The state's real gross domestic product rose 4.3 percent to $49 billion last year, compared to the national growth rate of 3.4 percent, according to data released yesterday by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis.

Contributing to the growth was tourism-related sectors such as retail trade, transportation and real estate, and accommodations and food services, said Eugene Tian, research and statistics officer at the state Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism.

Other booming sectors include professional and technical services, health care and technology, he said.

"We are still on the expansion path, which started in 2003 after 12 years below the U.S. growth rate," he said.

Hawaii's real gross domestic product grew 4.3 percent in 2005, 5.6 percent in 2004 and 3.6 percent in 2003.

State economist Pearl Imada Iboshi said the 2006 data confirmed the strong growth of Hawaii's economy, which is widely expected to slow this year.

"Personal income numbers have slowed relative to other states in recent quarters and therefore we would expect GDP growth would also slow," Iboshi said.

The state is seeing a slowdown in tourism and slower growth in construction and real estate as the market moves past its peak.

The state's per capita real gross domestic product also was higher than the national average last year by 1 percent.

California and Nevada both grew at about the same rate as Hawaii, at 4.2 percent and 4.1 percent, respectively. Michigan was the only state that had no growth in real GDP last year.