CHARLESTON, W.Va. – The United States Department of Commerce announced last week that West Virginia is the top state in the country in another category of economic growth.

The U.S. Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Economic Analysis reports that West Virginia led the nation in real gross domestic product (GDP) growth for the 1st Quarter of 2019, with a 5.2% growth rate.

U.S. Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross tweeted a congratulatory message:

“Congratulations again to #WestVirginia and @WVGovernor Justice for not only having the fastest state personal income growth in the first quarter but also the fastest state #GDP growth, coming in at 5.2%” @SecretaryRoss

Gov. Jim Justice released the following statement:

“I’ve said for a long time that our people won’t tolerate being 50th anymore. But to see us jumping up to #1 in the entire country, over and over again, in so many different categories of economic growth, it’s truly phenomenal,” Gov. Justice said. “There’s no way around it, with West Virginia on the national stage time and again, this is one of the best years in the history of our state’s economy!

“I’ve been out every day, visiting every corner of our state, meeting with the great West Virginians that are driving our incredible economic recovery,” Gov. Justice said. “There are still a lot of our people hurting, but at the end of the day, my number one job is to make life better for all West Virginians; to provide them more job opportunities, and more reasons to be proud of our great state, and that’s exactly what we’re doing.”

In addition to today’s announcement, Secretary Ross reported last month that West Virginia also led the nation in personal income growth for the 1st Quarter of 2019, with a 5.6% growth rate.