Three years into national economic recovery, wide variation exists in jobs recovered

July 31, 2012

A new Rutgers Regional Report, “Employment Recession and Recovery in the 50 States: An Update,” authored by Joseph J. Seneca, university professor and economist at Rutgers University’s Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy, and Will Irving, research associate, ranks the 50 states by the percentage of the Great Recession’s private-sector job losses that have been recovered as of June 2012.

The number of jobs lost and the number of jobs recovered are measured from each state’s specific employment peak and trough. This provides a precise and appropriate way to measure the size and duration of the recession’s impact on employment in each state and the extent of each state’s recovery from its recession’s losses.

As of June 2012, a full three years into the recovery, only five states – North Dakota, Alaska, Texas, Louisiana, and New York – have regained all their private-sector job losses from the recession, according to Seneca. The reportalso ranks the 50 states by the extent of losses in state and local government employment that have occurred from each state’s peak level of its public sector employment.

The Rutgers Regional Report is published by the Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy. “Employment Recession and Recovery in the 50 States: An Update” is available at https://bloustein.rutgers.edu/reports/rrr/RRRjuly12.pdf.

Back to Bloustein School news

Recent Posts

Heldrich Center: New Research on New Jersey’s Child Care Workforce

The Heldrich Center, working with the Rutgers Child Care Research Collaborative, has released a new comprehensive report and three new research briefs examining the experiences, challenges, and training needs of New Jersey’s child care workforce. The report, Findings...

Bloustein Graduate Students are 2027 Eagleton Fellows

The Graduate Fellows Program at the Eagleton Institute of Politics has been a cornerstone of the Institute's commitment to advancing the understanding and practice of politics and public service since the Institute’s founding in 1956. Throughout the fellowship,...