A recent study revealed North Dakota had the fastest economic growth in the nation in 2008, growing twice as fast as all other states except Wyoming.

Conducted by the United States Bureau of Economic Analysis, the study focused on the growth and contraction of the GDP, or Gross Domestic Product, by state and region, and found that the real GDP growth slowed in 38 states, while 12 states experienced declines in 2008. Overall, growth in the real GDP slowed from 2 percent in 2007 to 0.7 in 2008.

Attributed to the state's agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting industries, North Dakota experienced a 7.3 percent GDP growth, a figure which lead the nation and the Plains region, while Wyoming, at 4.4 percent growth, came in second, boosted by the state's mining industry.

"What is interesting about North Dakota is that while construction in the U.S. was going down, it was going up in the state," said Clifford Woodruff, economist for the BEA. He added that other industries including real estate rental and leasing, mining and healthcare and social assistance were all positive contributors to the state's economy.

During a strong national economy, he said, states will experience growth between 3 and 10 percent, but in times of recession we will see numbers similar to those highlighted in the report. Before the recession hit in 2007, Woodruff said many states experienced growth of 7 and 8 percent in the early half of the decade.

Alaska experienced the largest decline in real GDP at 2 percent, caused primarily by the decline in petroleum extraction. Alaska was followed by Delaware and Florida, who both had a decline of 1.6 percent, caused by a decline in Delaware's finance and insurance industries and Florida's dwindling housing market. Other states that experienced GDP declines include Kentucky, Georgia, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, Arizona and Nevada.

Although real economic growth slowed in all eight regions, the Rocky Mountain region, which consists of Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, Utah and Colorado, experienced the strongest regional GDP at 2.2 percent, followed by the Plains region at 2 percent, which includes the states of North and South Dakota, Minnesota, Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas and Missouri.

Declines in construction, manufacturing, and financing and insurance was cited in the report as the reasons the Great Lakes region contracted the only region to do so and the Southeast region experienced no growth in 2008.