From the Kansas City Star - September 18, 2013 8:07 am

The Kansas City area’s economy grew 2.5 percent in 2012, the same as the nation, according to a Bureau of Economic Analysis. It said trade, financial activities and manufacturing of long-lasting goods led the way for the 305 markets that saw growth. Kansas City was one of 11 metropolitan areas whose recovery from the recession “depended entirely on growth” among its industries that engage in trade, said the Export Nation 2013 report from the Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C. The Brookings report cited motor vehicles, aircraft products and parts, communications equipment, information technology, freight and port services, and financial services among the area’s big exporters last year. Exports represented nearly 12 percent of the area’s total economic output last year, the report showed, up from 7.1 percent in 2003.