Maine's economic output grew at a 2.6 percent annual rate in the fourth quarter of 2017, which spans from October to December. Economic growth actually cooled from a blistering third quarter, when output surged 6.8 percent, according to figures from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Affairs.
Still, Maine ranked 21 among the states (and the District of Columbia) in its fourth quarter Gross Domestic Product growth rate.
For 2017 as a whole, Maine's economy grew at a1.4 percent rate. That number was held down by last year's second quarter, when economic output actually shrank at a 2.8 percent annual rate.
The biggest contributors to growth in the fourth quarter of 2017 was wholesale trade, but several other sectors were significant contributors to growth: management of companies, agriculture and hunting, manufacturing and retail sales.
Acting as drags on output in the fourth quarter were the finance sector and insurance and government services.
