BRUNSWICK

With federal statistics showing a slowdown in Maine’s economy in 2011, one state forecaster points to the closure of Brunswick Naval Air Station as a primary cause of the dip.

But the 0.4 decrease in Maine’s real gross domestic product from last year is nothing to worry about, according to economist Charles Colgan, a professor at the University of Southern Maine’s Muskie School of Public Service.

“Basically, all of New England was flat in 2011 compared with 2010,” Colgan, who also served on State of Maine Consensus Economic Forecasting Commission for 16 years ending in 2011, said by phone Wednesday.

By the numbers, released Tuesday by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, New England saw an increase in its GDP of 1.8 percent, set against an average growth in GDP of 1.5 percent nationally.

No region in the country saw a decrease in GDP, calculated as the sum of what consumers, businesses and government spend on final goods and services, plus investment and net foreign trade.

Maine was among just five states in the country — including Alabama, Mississippi, Hawaii and Wyoming — to see GDP dip below last year’s levels.

While the rest of New England saw increases, Colgan said that Maine only lagged behind the rest in one sector — government — which he attributed to the closure of BNAS.

“New England as a whole was relatively weak, but the reason Maine was negative in comparison with other states was government (spending),” Colgan said.

The measure of GDP for the government sector, Colgan said, is largely determined by the wages and salaries of government workers.

“And the biggest drop in government workers was in relation to the closing of (BNAS),” Colgan said.

The figures show GDP in Maine’s government sector down 0.4 percent, while all other New England states saw slight increases or little increase in that area.

Maine also saw a 0.3 percent increase in the real estate, rental and leasing sector and 0.2 percent decreases in the utilities and information sectors.

The largest sector increases for GDP in Maine in 2011 were in health care and social assistance and durable-goods manufacturing, which both increased around 0.2 percent.

In 2010, Maine’s GDP increased by 0.4 percent after a 1.7 percent decline in 2009.

dfishell@timesrecord.com