Conn. top 10 for growth

Connecticut”™s economy grew at the second fastest pace of any state on the East Coast last year, and numbered among the top 10 in the nation.

The U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis calculated a 2 percent increase in Connecticut”™s real gross domestic product between 2010 and 2011, giving Gov. Dannel P. Malloy‘s economic policies a major boost in his first year as governor. In the East, only Massachusetts fared better with a 2.2 percent gain. New York registered a 1.1 percent increase, and New Jersey dropped a half-percentage point.

North Dakota had the best rate of growth in the nation at 7.6 percent, while Alabama”™s and Mississippi”™s economies posted the worst growth numbers, both contracting by 0.8 percent.

“With unemployment at a three-and-a-half-year low and thousands of private sector jobs created, we are absolutely laying the foundation for future growth,” Malloy said, in a prepared statement. “As we continue to implement economic development programs both large and small, I believe we”™ll see growth that outpaces most of our neighbors, as today”™s report clearly indicates. That said, we”™re still facing many challenges. We need to continue to be vigilant about the state”™s finances, and we”™re of course watching what”™s going on overseas.”