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Hello Kokomo! Northeast U.S. Misses Job Gains Since Recession

Hello Kokomo! Northeast U.S. Misses Job Gains Since Recession

(Bloomberg) -- New York? Boston? Washington, D.C.? Nope.

Labor Department data tracking the change in metropolitan labor markets since the last recession show the densely populated Northeast has been left behind by inland destinations such as Elkhart-Goshen and Kokomo in Indiana and Greeley in Colorado. The South and West also scored substantial gains.

Bloomberg calculated the net change in the number of people employed and unemployed by metropolitan area and divided the figure by labor force levels to determine which region showed the greatest improvement.

In the No. 1 ranked Elkhart-Goshen metropolitan area, home to motor home giant Winnebago Industries Inc., employment grew by 41,344 and unemployment fell by almost 14,000 since the recession ended in 2009.

Also high on the list is Texas, represented Austin, Dallas and San Antonio. In Dallas alone, almost 825,000 more people are working, and 118,000 fewer are unemployed -- a massive net change of almost 1 million.

Hello Kokomo! Northeast U.S. Misses Job Gains Since Recession
Hello Kokomo! Northeast U.S. Misses Job Gains Since Recession

To contact the reporter on this story: Alex Tanzi in Washington at atanzi@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Kristy Scheuble at kmckeaney@bloomberg.net, Vincent Del Giudice

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