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Washington • Five years after the Great Recession officially ended, most states still haven't regained all the jobs they lost, even though the nation as a whole has.
In May, the overall economy finally recovered all 9 million jobs that vanished in the worst downturn since the 1930s. Another month of solid hiring is expected in the U.S. jobs report for June that will be released Thursday.
After suffering less than most states during the recession, Utah also has rebounded faster than most. The state Department of Workforce Services said 1,325,000 Utahns were on payrolls last month, easily surpassing the pre-recession peak of 1,271,000.
Utah actually reached that earlier peak at the end of 2012, department records show.
Yet 32 states still have fewer jobs than when the recession began in December 2007 — evidence of the unevenness and persistently slow pace of the recovery.
Even though economists declared the recession over in June 2009, Illinois is still down 184,000 jobs from pre-recession levels. New Jersey is down 147,000. Both states were hurt by layoffs at factories. Florida is down 170,000 in the aftermath of its real estate market collapse.
The states where hiring lags the most tend to be those that were hit most painfully by the recession: They lost so many jobs that they've struggled to replace them all.
Nevada, which suffered a spectacular real estate bust and four years of double-digit unemployment — has fared worst. It has 6 percent fewer jobs than it did in December 2007. Arizona, also slammed by the housing collapse, is 5 percent short.
By contrast, an energy boom has lifted several states to the top of job creation rankings.
"North Dakota is the No. 1 example," says Dan White, senior economist at Moody's Analytics. "It's like its own little gold rush."
North Dakota has added 100,000 jobs since December 2007 — a stunning 28 percent increase, by far the nation's highest. The state has benefited from technology that allows energy companies to extract oil from shale, sedimentary rock formed by the compression of clay and silt.
Also benefiting from the energy boom is Texas, which has added more than 1 million jobs since December 2007, an increase of nearly 10 percent. For comparison, the nation as a whole has added only a net 113,000 jobs over that period.
Jobs in Washington D.C., where lobbying is an all but recession-proof occupation, are up 49,000, or 7 percent. The gain was led by a 10 percent increase in hiring by private employers.
Wall Street's recovery from the financial crisis has helped New York gain 237,000 jobs since the recession ended, an increase of nearly 3 percent.
Moody's White says many states are struggling because the recession wiped out solid middle-class jobs — in manufacturing and construction — that haven't returned.