E.P.I. : Some State Job Gains Stall Or Slip Into Reverse

[amborin]

Some State Job Gains Stall or Slip into Reverse

June 17, 2011


State employment data released today by the Bureau of Labor Statistics confirms what the national data released earlier in the month showed: employment growth has stalled in many states—and slipped into reverse in some. The tentative economic recovery is very much in danger, and millions of American families are paying a staggering price for the lack of concerted action to create jobs for the millions of unemployed Americans. In May, 18 states and the District of Columbia continued to have unemployment rates of 9.0% or higher, and seven states continued to have rates of 10.0% or more. (See interactive maps below.)

Nearly half the states—24—continue to have total employment that is at least 5.0% less than at the beginning of the recession. Two states—Nevada and Arizona—have job losses that still exceed 10.0% of December 2007 employment levels (13.8% and 10.3% respectively). The number of states that have lost jobs over the past year (since May 2010) has grown to 12 (including the District of Columbia). The number of states that have lost jobs in the previous three months has similar spiked, to 18 (including the District of Columbia), up from just seven in April.

http://www.epi.org/publications/entry/some_state_job_gains_stall_or_slip_into_reverse