Red States Lead the Way in Economic Recovery and Employment

File photo of the South Dakota float at the Macy’s Thanksgiving parade in New York, on Nov. 24, 2020. South Dakota topped the charts in 2020:Q4 quarterly annualized GDP growth and had the lowest unemployment rate in February 2021. Eugene Gologursky/Getty Images for Macy's, Inc.

Red states are leading the charge in economic recovery, as measured by 2020 fourth quarter gross domestic product (GDP) numbers and February 2021 unemployment rates, according to new government figures released Friday.

All 50 states and the District of Columbia saw an increase in GDP in the fourth quarter of last year, with the overall economy expanding an an annualized rate of 4.3 percent, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce. The percent change in GDP ranged from 9.9 percent in South Dakota to 1.2 percent in the District of Columbia.