Great Interactive Map Showing Job Gains & Losses

Click here for a great interactive map from MITACS showing monthly job losses and job gains for the 100 largest U.S. metropolitan areas and the 20 largest Canadian metro areas, from July 2002 to July 2008 (more details here). Notice the following:

1. You can see that the jobless recovery in the U.S. following the 2001 recession lasted well into 2003, with the jobless rate peaking in June 2003, and widespread, solid job gains not returning until 2004.

2. You can see the spike in job losses in the Louisiana area following the twin hurricanes of Katrina (August 2005) and Rita (September 2005).

3. During the years 2004, 2005 and 2006, there were consistent job gains around the country, until some job losses start showing up in Michigan in the fall of 2006, and those job losses in Michigan continued into 2007, and then really worsened in 2008 and 2009.

4. The next area of job losses leading into the recession was in Florida, starting in mid-2007, followed by job losses starting in California by the end of 2007.

5. By the middle of 2008 job losses were mounting, but were most heavily concentrated in California, Florida and Michigan. There were still employment increased in the central part of the U.S., especially in Texas and Oklahoma, and also job growth in the NYC-DC-Boston-Philadelphia area. Almost all areas of Canada were still experiencing job growth in June 2008.

6. By the fall of 2008, jobs losses were widespread across the U.S., except for Texas and Oklahoma; and by the spring of 2009 almost the entire country was experiencing job losses. Even into the summer of 2009, some parts of Canada were still seeing job gains, and it seems obvious that the Canadian economy survived the recession better than the U.S., at least in terms of jobs losses.

Thanks to Scott Bury.