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Bates Research  |  06-30-14

The Jobs Recession is Finally Over

Guest Post by Director Greg Kyle

Six-and-a-half years after the onset of the recession, the total number of people employed has finally risen above pre-recession levels, marking the jobs recession as finally over. Recently, the Labor Department released its latest jobs report. In May, the headline unemployment rate was unchanged at 6.3 percent, and total nonfarm payroll employment rose by 217,000.

During the height of the Great Recession in 2009, more than 8.6 million jobs were lost, making the recent jobs recession the worst in post-WW II history. This includes both the total percentage of jobs lost (for an apples-to-apples comparison) and the duration of job losses per recession. At 77 months, or nearly six and a half years, the recent jobs recession was three times as long as the average length of the prior ten job recessions.

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Yes, it’s good news that the job recovery is over, but it’s not yet time to celebrate. Some areas of the economy have seen solid job growth, while others are still lagging. Over the past twelve months, job growth in manufacturing activities and construction has lagged, while professional and business services, healthcare and the leisure and hospitality sectors have experienced strong growth in jobs. Unsurprisingly, growth in government jobs has been flat, with state and local government education posting further declines in jobs.

NOTE: We will not be posting this Friday, in observance of the 4th of July holiday.