Twin Cities GDP grew 2 percent last year, metro ranks 14th in the nation

The Twin Cities economy grew 2 percent last year, slightly below the average of urban centers around the United States.

Manufacturing output led the way in 2014, rising 6 percent, according to data released Wednesday by the U.S. Department of Commerce. In the professional and business services industry, which includes everything from law firms to janitorial companies, real GDP rose 5.5 percent.

"Two percent growth in a year is nothing to scoff at," said Joe Mahon, an analyst at the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. "Overall, it was in keeping with our experience in 2014, which is that it was a pretty strong year."

Across the country, urban areas grew an average of 2.3 percent in 2014.

The biggest loss the local economy experienced was in finance, insurance and real estate, which accounts for nearly a fourth of economic activity in the metro area. Output from those industries fell 1.9 percent, or $987 million. It's still well above 2012 levels, however, thanks to a spike in financial services output in 2013.

The Twin Cities ranks 14th in the country for the size of its economy, just behind Detroit and just ahead of the San Jose, Calif., metro area.

The Twin Cities had surpassed Detroit in 2013, according to figures released a year ago, but the revised data shows the Motor City just ahead.

San Jose, Santa Clara and Sunnyvale, which includes Silicon Valley, is rising fast and, at the current rate, should surpass the Twin Cities in the next couple of years.

Nationally, real GDP increased in 282 of the country's 381 metropolitan areas, led by growth in professional and business services, wholesale and retail trade, and the group of finance, insurance, real estate, rental, and leasing.

In Minnesota, Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington was the fastest-growing metro economy. St. Cloud, Mankato, Rochester and Duluth, which accounted for $32 billion in economic output in 2014 compared with the $216.9 billion in the Twin Cities, each grew slowly on the year. Duluth's economy grew by only 0.3 percent.

North Dakota's cities again posted strong growth in 2014. Bismarck grew by 7.6 percent, Fargo by 3.9 percent.

Smaller cities in Wisconsin also showed strong growth. Eau Claire, Sheboygan, Wausau and Fond du Lac all grew by better than 3 percent.

By contrast, seven metro areas in Illinois saw their economies contract in 2014, including Kankakee, Peoria, the Quad Cities, Danville, Champaign-Urbana, Bloomington and Carbondale.

Chicago, the nation's third-largest metro economy, grew by 1.8 percent, to $557.7 billion.

Adam Belz • 612-673-4405 Twitter: @adambelz