Inflation Takes Bite Out of Rural Idaho’s Gross Product Gains

BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Numbers from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis show that inflation is eroding gross product gains in rural Idaho. The Idaho Department of Labor released the numbers Monday for the total value of goods and services produced in the state.

Economic activity picked up in Idaho's 33 rural counties during 2011, with the counties producing just under $17.5 billion worth of goods and services. That's a 5.1 percent increase compared to a year earlier. But the Department of Labor says that increase was lost to inflation. Once inflation is taken into account, rural counties saw gross state product actually decline 0.6 percent.