California bounces back as No. 7 economy in world

By JULIA HOROWITZ, Associated Press | June 10, 2015 | Updated: June 10, 2015 5:05pm

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — After taking a significant recession-era hit, California's economy has bounced back up to the seventh largest in the world as the state's gross domestic product reached $2.3 trillion in 2014, show figures released Wednesday by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis.

That was enough for California to edge past Brazil's 2014 GDP of $2.2 trillion, but still below the sixth-place United Kingdom.

California had slipped in the ranks since 2002, when it last claimed the No. 6 spot. The state bottomed out at ninth in 2010 after a harsh drop in economic output after the 2008 financial crisis.

But 2014 saw statewide economic growth on multiple fronts, particularly in professional and technical services, which includes jobs spanning from IT consulting to construction-related engineering and architecture, as well as in manufacturing. The agricultural sector also grew in 2014 despite an ongoing drought.

"People see us as Silicon Valley, where computers are made, and Los Angeles, where movies are made, but we're doing a lot more than that," said Robert Kleinhenz, chief economist at the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp.

http://www.chron.com/news/article/Ca...ld-6319291.php