SALT LAKE CITY – Utah’s productivity has increased by more than 66 percent since 2007, with the Beehive State now holding third place among states in a nationwide ranking.
That’s the conclusion of new research by Plus Docs, an artificial intelligence platform that analyzes productivity on a state-by-state basis.
Back in 2007, Utah ranked as low as 46th among states in terms of productivity, according to the Plus Docs study. Since them, Utah has experienced the third-greatest increase in its output index, jumping from a 78.24 score to 130.55, a massive increase of 66.85 percent.
“This study presents an interesting reflection on rising productivity across the United States,” according to Daniel Li, the co-founding and CEO of Plus Docs.
“Much has changed since 2007,” he observed. “While they appear in and around the top ten (of state rankings), it is not only the Silicon Valley and other big tech states — that one might be expected to top this list — that actually do so.”
The Plus Docs study analyzed data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics regarding each state’s output index, a measure of the relative change in the quantity of good and services produced in a state over time.
The output index from the BLS measures the relative change in the quantity of goods and services produced over time. It is typically used to track productivity trends in various industries.
The earliest available data, from 2007, stands in comparison to 2023 data to indicate which states have seen the greatest increase in productivity during the 17-year time span.
As early as 2007, in-state experts were predicting that Utah was due to see a sharp increase in economic dynamism due to the unusual degree to which its economy was knowledge-based, globalized, entrepreneurial, information technology driven and innovation-based.
Since then, the Utah economy has broadly diversified to include huge growth in industries including tourism, mining, agriculture, information technology, finance and petroleum production.
Although the majority of the state’s gross production continues to take place along the Wasatch Front, rural areas like Cache Valley have also experienced rapid and diversified industrialization in recent years.
According to data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis, Utah’s gross economic output in 2021 was $220 billion. Since then, Utah’s gross domestic productiviity has grown at an annualized rate of 4.5 precent, estimated to reach $229 billion in 2024.
Leading Utah in the Plus Docs study were North Dakota with an output index increase of 87.82 percent since 2007 and Washington with an increase of 75.41 percent.
Following Utah in the top ten ranking of states were Texas (with a 59.26 percent increase in its output index since 2007); Colorado (57.07 percent increase); Idaho (56.20 percent increase); California (55.64 percent increase); Massachusetts (44.35 percent increase); Nebraska (44.3 percent increase); and Tennessee (44.22 percent increase).
Additional information about this study can be found at https://plusdocs.com