State

Arts and cultural economic activity grew at an inflation-adjusted 2.9 percent in 2016, increasing faster than the nation’s economy overall. For comparison, U.S. gross domestic product, or GDP, rose 1.6 percent that year.

Among state economies, Nevada posted the fastest arts and culture increase at 14.7 percent (not adjusted for inflation). Performing arts promoters and the movie industry led Nevada’s growth. The District of Columbia and all other states except Louisiana also saw increases in nominal value added; Louisiana’s arts and culture economy declined 13.1 percent.

Take a bow, dancers, art teachers, and museum guides: The roles you and others play in the U.S. economy will be in the spotlight March 19.

That’s when the Bureau of Economic Analysis will release its annual statistics on the economic impact of arts and cultural activities. The data will highlight the sector’s contributions to the gross domestic product, or GDP, of the United States, each of the 50 states, and the District of Columbia.

The Bureau of Economic Analysis has completed its comprehensive update of state and local area personal income statistics, some reaching back as far as 1929.

Comprehensive, or benchmark, updates are performed approximately every five years. They provide the opportunity to incorporate newly available and revised source data and to introduce improvements in statistical methods. BEA’s full time series are updated to provide consistent comparisons over time.