We all know the Great Recession was tough around here. Wednesday morning we got another indication of just how tough.

The $124 billion economy of the St. Louis region shrank by 5.1 percent in 2009, according to new numbers from the Commerce Department. That's faster than most places and more than twice the average pace among U.S. metro areas.

While the region weathered the recession's early days - St. Louis's economy actually grew 0.1 percent in 2008 - it was hit harder as the downturn droned on. 2009, for instance, saw the closure of Chrysler's Fenton plants and a slew of cutbacks at big local companies.

While confidentiality concerns limited how much industry-level data the Commerce Department reported, it did say that nearly half of the region's declines were due to cuts in the broad Professional and Business Services sector.

Still, 2009 also saw the end, technically at least, of the recession. And conversation has moved on to where the region can go from here. Growth in biotech and financial services and a small rebound in commercial real estate have some people looking ahead to the rest of 2011.