24/7 Wall St. recently published its study, “States Adding (and Losing) the Most Jobs.” The state that added the most jobs between April 2011 and April 2016 was Utah, where the number was up 14.5% to 1.42 million. That helped bring its unemployment rate in April down to 3.8%, the 15th lowest among all states.
A review of the overall national picture showed job growth was uneven:
The vast majority of states have added jobs during April 2011 through April 2016. Most states added at least 100,000 positions. Delaware and Nevada reported a 13% employment growth, and Utah a 14.5% growth, the fastest job growth rates in the country. Despite the generally robust job growth, employment has actually declined in five states. West Virginia lost roughly 11,800 jobs over the last five years, a 1.6% drop.
A quick look at Utah, Delaware and Nevada:
Nevada
> Employment increase: 13.0%
> Number of jobs April 2011: 1.18 million (16th least)
> Number of jobs April 2016: 1.34 million (18th least)
> Unemployment rate April 2016: 6.1% (4th highest)
> Industry contributing most to increase: Professional and business servicesDelaware
> Employment increase: 13.0%
> Number of jobs April 2011: 409,226 (5th least)
> Number of jobs April 2016: 462,377 (6th least)
> Unemployment rate April 2016: 4.0% (19th lowest)
> Industry contributing most to increase: Education and health servicesUtah
> Employment increase: 14.5%
> Number of jobs April 2011: 1.24 million (18th least)
> Number of jobs April 2016: 1.42 million (19th least)
> Unemployment rate April 2016: 3.8% (15th lowest)
> Industry contributing most to increase: Professional and business services
And the methodology:
To identify the states with the most and least job growth, 24/7 Wall St. reviewed states with the most significant changes in employment from April 2011 through April 2016. Unemployment rates, the size of the labor force, and employment levels are from the Current Population Survey (CPS), a monthly survey of households jointly administered by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) and U.S. Census Bureau. Industry-specific growth rates for the same period are from the Current Employment Survey (CES), also from the BLS.
Check out how many jobs each of the 50 states is adding or losing.
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