Kansas has rebounded strongly, surpassing the national and the Plains region averages in each quarter of 2023. The state’s growth peaked at 9.4% in Q3 of 2023, significantly higher than the national average of 4.8% and the Plains region of 5.1% in the same quarter. The underlying contribution to the growth within the state over the previous year was agriculture, which was from a combination of prices and drought insurance. Manufacturing regained its strength in the second and third quarters of the year, as agriculture waned slightly. Both industry drivers have fueled additional growth within construction, retail, and government, which picked up in the second quarter. Kansas’s real GDP trajectory indicates an economy that has overcome challenges over the previous decade and is now expanding rapidly. Although it will not likely maintain the top-growing economy in the United States over the next few quarters, it should maintain a more robust economy than its peer states.
Source: WSU CEDBR
