Job Recovery in the United States

After an economy that was in turmoil, job recovery is finally starting to take place in the United States. While it is fortunate that there has been some job recovery in the United States, the process has been very slow and is not even throughout all of the different states, according to The New York Times.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics recently released figures that showed employment has actually decreased in several states within just the past year. About two states finally have more jobs and more employed individuals than they did prior to the recession, when jobs were far steadier.

The charts that were shown depicted various employment changes that took place in different states. One chart showed how employment growth has taken place since it hit an all-time low back in 2007-2009. The second chart shows employment levels that are most current and seemed to have begun peaking right before 2009.The third and final chart shows the employment changes that have taken place within the past year.

With the charts showing visible employment changes, there is something that seems to stand out to just about everyone. Employment has actually decreased in several states, especially the states in which the price of real estate continued to rise. Some of these states that have an employment decrease since the peak include Florida, Nevada, Michigan and Arizona.

These states, within the past year, have managed to perform at the national average and some have even performed above the national average. Michigan has had the best overall gain out of the different states, with a gain of 1.5 percent.

The fact of the matter is, a lot of jobs were lost in areas where lots of homeowners need employment. These homeowners likely owe money on their homes and are having a hard time getting out of debt. With the lack of employment and the amount of debt many of these people may owe, it is no wonder why the economic recovery is taking such a long time. These homeowners may need employment but are often unable to afford to actually move to a different area where employment is not nearly as scarce as it is in their area. It is very unfortunate.

Two separate states, Alaska and North Dakota, are states that produce oil and now have more jobs and more employed individuals since the peak. The District of Columbia has also made some progress. However, while The District of Columbia is usually recession-proof, within the past 12 months, they have had troubles with job growth and employment too. North Dakota seems to be having the best and fastest job growth out of all the states in America. Employment growth in the United States has definitely been slow even though some states are showing progress.