Columbus is state's third largest economy behind Cleveland and Cincinnati.

Cleveland's economy grew more than Cincinnati's and Columbus' last year,, according to data released Tuesday by the federal Bureau of Economic Analysis.

The data show Cleveland has the largest economy of the state's metro areas and the 28th largest in the nation.

The Cleveland area has benefited from a comeback in manufacturing. Last year's growth also was driven by a strong increase in mining and natural resources industries.

The Cleveland economy grew by 2.9 percent last year and was valued at $140 billion.

The Cincinnati economy increased by 2.4 percent in 2017 to $138 billion and the Columbus economy was up 2.1 percent to $136.3 billion. Overall, Cincinnati had the 29th largest economy and Columbus was 30th, according to the analysis, which seeks to measure the total value of goods and services in an area.

Despite Cleveland outperforming Columbus last year, local economists believe that eventually Columbus will surpass Cleveland to become the state's No. 1 economy.

"Employment growth in Cleveland has been nothing to write home about. Their (economic growth) is a whole lot better because they are manufacturing dominate," a sector that has been doing well, said economist Bill LaFayette, owner of the economic consulting firm Regionomics.

Population growth is a major reason why LaFayette expects Columbus will one day be the biggest economy.

"We've got population growth that they don't have and that creates demand for local services," he said.

The Columbus economy has grown 27.6 percent since 2009, compared with 16.8 percent for the U.S. economy and 17.2 percent for the Ohio economy, he said.

For Columbus, construction, health care, professional and business services, and retail did well in 2017, the government report showed.

For Kenny McDonald, chief economic officer for Columbus 2020, the comparisons with other cities aren't as important as keeping the local economy growing.

"Velocity and momentum, ... that's what I'm concentrated on," he said.

"What is exciting and worth noting is the growth of the (economy) over the past eight years. Now we're asking the question about how we continue that pace," he said.

Of the 383 metro areas across the U.S., 312 showed growth in 2017. The average growth rate was 2.1 percent.

Among Ohio metro areas, Springfield posted the largest increase with growth of 3.5 percent. Youngstown's economy fell by 2 percent, the biggest drop in the state.

Most of the state's other metro areas posted modest gains.

That many of the state's other metros continue to struggle is not much of a surprise given the weak population growth, said Ben Ayers, senior economist at Nationwide.

"Essentially, (the economy) is people being productive. If there are fewer people living there and producing, it's hard to get faster and positive growth," he said.

Still, Ayers anticipates that most metro areas will do better this year as has the national economy.

"I'm expecting a good year with most of the cities accelerating," he said. "It should be a period of growth mirroring the U.S. economy."

mawilliams@dispatch.com

@BizMarkWilliams