Capital Region MFG Leads Upstate for Productivity

Highlights

• Capital Region manufacturing real GDP increases by 2.3 percent in 2024 – fastest in upstate.
• Rensselaer and Greene counties had the state’s second and sixth fastest-growing manufacturing real GDP.
• Greene County ranks No. 1 in New York for total real GDP growth.

The Capital Region’s manufacturing sector led upstate in productivity growth in 2024, boosted by Rensselaer and Greene counties, according to a Center for Economic Growth (CEG) analysis of U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) statistics.

MFG Productivity

After two years of nearly flat growth, the real gross domestic product (GDP) for the eight-county Capital Region’s manufacturing sector in 2024 increased by 2.3 percent. Among New York’s eight upstate regions*, that was the fastest real GDP growth rate, followed by the Southern Tier at 1.2 percent and Central New York at 0.4 percent.

Rensselaer and Greene counties had the state’s second and sixth fastest-growing manufacturing real GDP’s, increasing by 8.1 percent and 4.3 percent, respectively. Productivity gains were largest in the non-durable manufacturing grouping, which includes medicine and pharmaceutical manufacturers such as Regeneron Pharmaceutical in East Greenbush and Haleon in East Durham.

MFG GDP per Capita

The uptick in productivity came even as the Capital Region’s manufacturing sector in 2024 experienced its largest annual decline in employment in 15 years, due to the closures of Comfortex in Colonie and Quad in Saratoga Springs. However, the region’s manufacturing sector retains high output efficiency, as measured by its manufacturing GDP per capita.  The region’s manufacturing sector produces $412,038 for every worker, whereas that ratio is $227,166 for the state.

Total GDP

In 2024, the Capital Region’s total GDP (in current dollars) was $107.1 billion. When adjusting for inflation (in chained 2017 dollars), its total real GDP increased over the year by 2.7 percent – the sixth fastest rate in the state. Greene County had the state’s No. 1 fastest-growing total GDP, with an ever bigger boost from the utility sector. At 5.3 percent, Rensselaer County had the state’s sixth fastest-growing total real GDP (5.3 percent).

Note

* Regional manufacturing real GDP for NYC excludes Richmond and North Country excludes Hamilton. The Long Island region is excluded because 2023 MFG real GDP data not available for Nassau County.

CEG INITIATIVES

As a New York State Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) center, CEG Manufacturing Solutions helps Capital Region manufacturers increase their productivity by providing a menu of technical support services, such as Lean Enterprise Training, ISO Certification Assistance, Technology-Driven Market Intelligence, workforce development, and CoreValue benchmarking assessments.

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