Tuesday, May 22, 2012

What Do the States That Have Recovered Jobs the Fastest Have in Common? Booming Energy Sectors

How long will it take before a state's employment level returns to pre-recession peak?
The state map above is featured in the U.S. News and World Report article titled "North Dakota, Alaska Job Markets Fueled By Oil And Gas Boom," and estimates how long it will take before the number of jobs in a state returns to the pre-recession peak level.  Alaska and North Dakota both completely recovered from the effects of the recession by early 2010, and have current employment levels of 3% and 14% above their respective December 2007 levels.  

Texas recovered all of its lost jobs by the fall of 2011, and now has 2% more jobs than December 2007.  Louisiana employment has returned to pre-recession levels this year. What do those four states have in common?  Quoting from the article:

"North Dakota, Alaska, Texas, and Louisiana may not seem to have much in common geographically or culturally, but they all are boosted by a booming oil industry.

Energy is responsible for these states' job recoveries "to a very large degree," says Jim Diffley, senior director of U.S. regional services at IHS Global Insight. "In North Dakota and Alaska, the energy sector is predominately very much the single most important factor."

Meanwhile, states at the less fortunate end of the spectrum tend to have their own commonalities: continuing problems in their housing markets, meaning depressed construction employment. IHS's analysis predicts that states in the West and Southeast will largely have to wait until 2014 or later before their jobs figures recover, with some states, like Arizona, Florida, and Nevada, having to wait until at least 2016.

According to the analysis, Nevada, Michigan, and Rhode Island may have the longest to wait before recovery, with their returns to their former job levels expected after 2017."

4 Comments:

At 5/22/2012 6:47 PM, Blogger rjs said...

so what is nevada to do to take advantage of this?

change its underlying geology?

 
At 5/22/2012 6:50 PM, Blogger AIG said...

No RJS, follow the "Dakota model" of cronyism where you pass on your cost of living to the other states through the Federal government.

 
At 5/22/2012 7:02 PM, Blogger PeakTrader said...

Based on jobs not recovered in the depression and population growth, the U.S. will need to add more than 550,000 jobs per month on average over the next 24 months to reach a 5% unemployment rate or full employment.

 
At 5/22/2012 7:38 PM, Blogger Che is dead said...

"No RJS, follow the "Dakota model" of cronyism where you pass on your cost of living to the other states through the Federal government." -- AIG

Thank you for demonstrating conclusively that there really has been a "severe contraction in the quality of higher education in America."

 

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