JUNEAU -- For the second year in a row, Alaska's gross domestic product declined more than any other state's, the result of reduced North Slope oil production and much lower prices for crude.
In 2014, Alaska's GDP contracted by 1.3 percent, while Mississippi, the only other state with a negative number, shrank by 1.2 percent.
That's according to the federal Bureau of Economic Analysis, which produces quarterly GDP numbers for the nation and every June publishes numbers for states as well. In 2014 the national GDP, the total value of all the goods and services produced, grew by 2.2 percent.
All the numbers are adjusted for inflation.
In 2013, Alaska's GDP was reported to have shrunk by 2.5 percent, but the new numbers have revised that down to a loss of 4 percent. Alaska was the lowest in the nation for both 2013 and 2014, for both preliminary and revised numbers.
But it's not clear what the drop in a state GDP's means, though the national number is considered an important measure of the economy, including when national recessions begin and end. Two quarters of negative GDP is considered a recession.
"It's sort of the ultimate macro number for the economy, but I don't think that's true for us, and a lot of other (small) states," said Neil Fried, an economist with the Research and Analysis Section of the Alaska Department of Labor.
But when the state's GDP number came out last year, it caught the attention of many and was cited by then-Senate President Charlie Huggins, R-Wasilla, and others as proof that the state's former ACES oil tax was a "failure" and used to urge the retention of its replacement, Senate Bill 21, in a referendum in 2014.
"Alaska's gross domestic product also declined 2.5 percent, making it the only state in the nation to see economic decline," he wrote in Alaska Dispatch News last year.
The following year, 2014, Alaska was again down, while several other oil-producing states were up. North Dakota led the nation with 6.3 percent GDP growth and Texas was not far behind at 5.2 percent.
Fried said most of the Alaska economy was doing well, and delving into the numbers behind the GDP decline indicates it was due to the mining sector, which includes the oil and gas industries.
"It's totally being driven by mining, and mining is all oil, and oil is down significantly," he said.
Some of the state's metals miners have also seen their commodity prices decline he said, but that impact is dwarfed by the size of the oil and gas industry.
Fried warned that the GDP decline wouldn't necessarily translate into broader economic decline, just as some big increases in past years didn't result in a boom in Alaska.
"It's part of the problem with GDP figures. I don't know if it's a problem, but it's not necessarily reflective of the broad level of economic activity."
While important, GDP may not track closely with other economic numbers, which appear steady.
"There is way more volatility in the GDP figures than there is in the overall economy, whether it's population, employment, income, other types of things, because the price of commodities are so important to GDP," he said.
That can make the state's domestic product go up or down, but not translate directly or quickly into jobs or other important measures.
Employment in the state, including oil and gas jobs, has been steadily climbing for years, Fried said.
"A lot of the money in these GDP figures don't necessarily end up in Alaska's economy; it could end up in the shareholders' pockets or anywhere else in the world," he said.
Another reason Alaska might appear to grow more slowly than other states is Alaska was barely touched by the national recession seven years ago. That means other states have more ground to make up, he said.
The decline in oil prices only began later in 2014, and Fried said this year's continued low oil prices and cuts in government spending could result in another GDP decrease next year.