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California Now Has the World’s Fifth-Largest Economy

Topics: Current Events
California Golden Gate
Image Credit: Pexels / pixabay.com

Congrats, California. You’re now home of the world’s fifth-biggest economy.

If you didn’t already know it, the state of California is an economic giant. How big, exactly? In 2017, its gross domestic product surpassed $2.7 trillion, moving The Golden State to number five on the list of biggest global economies. Yes, you read that right: global. The state of California is now a top-five global economy, competing with entire countries for a top-spot on the list.

Which countries round out the top five? The United States, China, Japan and Germany all have a larger GDP than California. But, again, they’re independent countries. (If California were to secede from the United States, the U.S. economy would still top the list.)

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The country that California bumped from the top five? That would be the United Kingdom, home to 65.6 million people. (California, for reference, has 39.5 million people, roughly 25 million fewer than the U.K.)

Judging by the response of the U.K. media upon learning this news, it’s fair to say that being bumped out of the top-five may sting just a little.

Wrote The Guardian, “The so-called Golden State’s GDP rose by $127bn in the period from 2016 to 2017, while the U.K.’s economic output fell slightly over that time when measured in US dollars, due in part to exchange rate fluctuations.”

“So-called”? C’mon now, U.K.! Where’s that stiff upper lip?

According to CNBC, “The data demonstrate the sheer immensity of California’s economy, home to nearly 40 million people, a thriving technology sector in Silicon Valley, the world’s entertainment capital in Hollywood and the nation’s salad bowl in the Central Valley agricultural heartland.”

If you want to get in on this booming economy, you may be in luck – the unemployment rate in the state is hovering around 4.3 percent, a hair over the national rate of 3.9 percent. And like many places in America right now, a shortage of labor for all kinds of jobs is giving job seekers a plethora of choices when it comes to where they want to work.

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What do you think about California becoming the world’s fifth-largest economy? We want to hear from you! Leave a comment or join the discussion on Twitter.


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