Most states regain output levels, relatively few recover all lost employment
NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J – A new Rutgers Regional Report, “Employment Recession and Recovery in the 50 States: A Further Update,” authored by Joseph J. Seneca, university professor and economist at the Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy, and Will Irving, research associate at the Bloustein School, provides an update on the private-sector employment and output recovery across the 50 states.
By 2012, 45 of the 50 states had output levels – as measured by state private-sector GDP – near or higher than their output in 2007, the year before the recession. In sharp contrast, by June 2013 only nine of the 50 states had regained all the private-sector jobs lost during the recession. The authors provide output growth and employment recovery measures for each of the 50 states, as well as the Census regions and divisions.
The authors note that 31 states continue to have private-sector job recovery rates that lag behind that of the nation (81.7 percent). Within those 31 states, 10 have not yet recovered half of their job losses, indicating a need for national and state economic policies to focus on both on improving the rate of job growth and on broadening its distribution across the country.