Twin Cities economy grew last year

The Twin Cities economy grew faster than the average U.S. metropolitan area last year.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, real GDP, an inflation-adjusted measure of the value of goods and services produced in a year, grew by 3.9 percent in the Twin Cities between 2011 and 2012.

During that period, the value grew to about $190 billion, an increase of about $7 billion. The national metropolitan growth rate was 2.5 percent over that period.

Former state economist Tom Stinson said Minnesota and the Twin Cities saw good economic growth in the past year.

"Because the metro area, the Twin Cities metro area, is such a large part of the state's economy, you really can't have good growth in Minnesota if the metro area is lagging," he said.

The increase in Twin Cities GDP is consistent with other important economic indicators such as employment numbers, which have been growing, Stinson said.