7 States that Haven’t Recovered from the Recession

The last recession in the U.S. began about 10 years ago, and though it lasted only two years, it had a profound impact on the U.S. workforce that is still being felt. According to a recent study by CareerBuilder based on data from Emsi, the country as a whole may have recovered from the job losses of the recession, but some states aren’t quite there yet.

States Still in Recovery

According to the study, the U.S. had 6,692,837 more jobs in 2017 than in 2007, for a net growth of about 4 percent. However, that growth hasn’t been perfectly even across the country. Some of the states whose 2017 jobs numbers fail to overtake their 2007 numbers include:

• Alabama: 62,637 fewer jobs – 3 percent – in 2017 than in 2007
• West Virginia: 33,428 fewer jobs – 4 percent – in 2017 than in 2007
• Mississippi: 26,666 fewer jobs – 2 percent – in 2017 than in 2007
• New Mexico: 23,422 fewer jobs – 2 percent – in 2017 than in 2007
• Connecticut: 19,781 fewer jobs – 1 percent – in 2017 than in 2007
• Wyoming: 13,257 fewer jobs – 4 percent – in 2017 than in 2007
• Illinois: 11,682 fewer jobs – 0.2 percent – in 2017 than in 2007

Even though these states may not quite be back at their pre-recession jobs numbers, that doesn’t mean there hasn’t been encouraging job growth – it merely indicates that these states haven’t kept pace with the rest of the country.

“While we have been seeing job growth in nearly every state since the recession ended, some states have recovered faster than others. Still, even in areas where job growth has lagged, there are occupations and industries that are growing,” said Matt Ferguson, CEO of CareerBuilder and co-author of “The Talent Equation.” “Companies looking to hire in those regions should expand their search to workers with transferrable skills in other, less recovered local industries. There are competitive advantages to be had by tapping new talent pools and investing in reskilling and training workers.”

States That Have Grown the Most Since 2007

Of the 40 states that had more jobs in 2017 than they did in 2007, 14 have outpaced the overall national job growth rate. The seven states with the largest net increase in jobs since 2007 are:

• Texas: 1,699,505 more jobs – 15 percent – in 2017 than in 2007
• California: 1,239,911 more jobs – 7 percent – in 2017 than in 2007
• New York: 597,961 more jobs – 6 percent – in 2017 than in 2007
• Florida: 455,134 more jobs – 5 percent – in 2017 than in 2007
• Washington: 300,885 more jobs – 9 percent – in 2017 than in 2007
• Colorado: 293,160 more jobs – 11 percent – in 2017 than in 2007
• Massachusetts: 288,446 more jobs – 8 percent – in 2017 than in 2007

What Does This Mean For You?

In a competitive hiring environment, identifying untapped talent pools can provide a vital advantage. According to Ferguson, companies looking to hire in regions where the recovery has been slower should expand their search to include workers in other, less recovered industries who may have valuable transferrable skills, and invest in reskilling and training workers.

See how some employers are planning on filling vacancies this year in our 2018 Hiring Forecast.