St. Louis economy shrank sharply in '09

http://www.stltoday.com/business/columns/tim-logan/article_62accfd8-3f72-11e0-b89e-0017a4a78c22.html

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.