The region's economy expanded by just $24 million in value in 2011, reflecting much slower growth than the preceding year.
Gross domestic product in the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre metro area grew by 0.1 percent in 2011, according to new data from the U.S. Department of Labor. GDP calculates the total market value of goods and services.
The growth rate was the 234th strongest of the nation's 366 largest metro areas. The national average expansion rate among metros was 1.6 percent and GDP advanced in 242 urban centers, government data show.
The area's tepid growth in 2011 followed a $728 million, 4.4 percent leap in 2010 GDP value. The area's economy, though, shed $434 million of value from 2008 to 2009 during a historically severe recession.
"We posted positive growth. We are heading in the right direction," said Satyajit Ghosh, Ph.D., a University of Scranton economist. "The aftereffects of the recession were still not out of our system."
Despite lingering recessionary effects, local GDP hit an all-time high in 2011, said Teri Ooms, director of the Institute for Public Policy and Economic Development, a regional research and analysis organization.
"The data demonstrates that the region has a strong, diversified economy, with unrealized potential," Ms. Ooms said.
Manufacturing in 2011 contributed the largest share of GDP value. Industrial output added $2.9 billion to the area's economy - 17 percent of the total - even though manufacturers laid off thousands of workers between 2008 and 2011.
Education and health services categories were the second-largest contributor, at $2.85 billion, representing 16.7 percent of the area's economic output. Financial activities followed closely, with $2.8 billion in value, or 16.5 percent. Government spending topped $2.2 billion, more than 13 percent of local GDP.
Expansion of the region's transportation and warehousing segment surfaced at a vigorous growth pace. The sector's GDP input totaled $918 million in 2011, a 6.4 percent advance over 2010.
"The data shows our growth is coming from the private sector, not the public sector, which is good," Ms. Ooms said. "We are, however, leaning heavily toward a service-producing economy, as opposed to a goods-producing economy."
None of the similarly sized metro areas in the state did much better in 2011. GDP in Reading and York expanded by 0.6 percent each. Allentown grew by 0.5 percent and Harrisburg added 0.2 percent. Lancaster was the laggard, retreating by 1.6 percent.
The results among same-sized urban areas indicate the region's economy had relatively normal results in 2011, Dr. Ghosh said.
"Among similarly sized metro areas, by and large, we kind of compare favorably," he said.
The area's modest advance affirms a recovery still continues, even though the economy technically emerged from recession in June 2009.
"There are no surprises here," Dr. Ghosh said. "There were great uncertainties all over the place. There was no consistent trend that got established for us to say, we have turned a corner."
The GDP total proves the region's economy continues to generate momentum, despite continued high unemployment, Ms. Ooms said.
"We tend to get hung up on unemployment as a sole indicator of our economy," she said. "It isn't the only measure of our strength."
Contact the writer: jhaggerty@timesshamrock.com