Employment Recession and Recovery in the 50 States: A Further Update

Abstract

Private-sector Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth ratios and employment recovery rates following the Great Recession are calculated for the 50 states, as well as Census regions and divisions. GDP growth rates measure the ratio of state private sector GDP in 2012 to that in 2007. States with 2012 private-sector GDP levels above their 2007 levels have GDP growth ratios greater than one, while those with private-sector GDP lower than their 2007 levels have ratios below one. Employment recovery rates measure the percentage of each state’s private-sector job losses during the recession that have been recovered as of June 2013. The nation’s private-sector GDP growth ratio is 1.026, and its employment recovery rate is 81.7 percent.This is the third in a series of reports measuring how private-sector employment has changed in the 50 states during the Great Recession and the subsequent recovery.This report was published as Issue Paper Number 36, July 2013, in Rutgers Regional Report