(September 2018) Utah leads the United States in jobs creation since the end of the Great Recession in mid-2009, expanding payroll employment at a 28.4% rate versus the 14% national average, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics records show. Arkansas trailed the U.S. in the period,1 creating new jobs at a 7.5% rate.
Employment growth in only 17 states has exceeded the national average in the nine-year-old expansion.2 Five states without income taxes, including two (Tennessee and Texas) that border Arkansas are among the high-growth states.
| June 2009 August 2018 | Growth % | ||
| Utah | 1,186.0 | 1,523.3 | 28.4% |
| Colorado | 2,238.8 | 2,740.5 | 22.4% |
| Texas | 10,320.6 | 12,626.5 | 22.3% |
| Florida | 7,222.0 | 8,822.2 | 22.2% |
| Nevada | 1,142.8 | 1,389.4 | 21.6% |
| Idaho | 609.1 | 739.5 | 21.4% |
| Washington | 2,859.3 | 3,439.7 | 20.3% |
| Oregon | 1,607.8 | 1,920.8 | 19.5% |
| California | 14,432.4 | 17,191.9 | 19.1% |
| North Dakota | 366.9 | 435.2 | 18.6% |
| Arizona | 2,427.3 | 2,864.9 | 18.0% |
| Tennessee | 2,602.6 | 3,070.4 | 17.9% |
| South Carolina | 1,809.1 | 2,130.4 | 17.8% |
| Georgia | 3,898.3 | 4,553.2 | 16.8% |
| North Carolina | 3,894.4 | 4,527.6 | 16.3% |
| Michigan | 3,837.9 | 4,434.5 | 15.5% |
| Massachusetts | 3,204.0 | 3,685.1 | 15.0% |
| United States | 131,022,000 | 149,366,000 | 14.0% |
| Arkansas | 1,161.4 | 1,248.9 | 7.5% |
Arkansas is one of 33 states3 that trail the national average in the period.
–Greg Kaza
1 Nonfarm payroll employment, June 2009-to-August 2018, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).
2 National Bureau of Economic Research: http://www.nber.org/cycles.html
3 Indiana (June 2009) 2,769.9 (August 2018) 3,136.6, 13.2%; New York 8,517.1, 9,631.8, 13.1%; Minnesota 2,644.7, 2,976.5,
12.5%; Hawaii 593.1, 666.9, 12.4%; Montana 429.4, 479.0, 11.6%; Ohio 5,049.3, 5,625.7, 11.4%; Delaware 416.2, 462.3 , 11.1%;
Kentucky 1,754.2, 1,930.1, 10.0%; New Hampshire 627.5, 689.3, 9.85%; Virginia 3,652.2, 4,010.7, 9.81%; Rhode Island 458.9,
501.9, 9.4%; South Dakota 403.1, 440.5, 9.3%; Wisconsin 2,735.2, 2,987.7, 9.2%; Nebraska 948.1, 1,032.2, 8.9%; Maryland
2,528.6, 2,749.7, 8.7% Illinois 5,641.2, 6,120.0, 8.5%;Oklahoma 1,565.5, 1,696.0, 8.3%; Missouri 2,685.4, 2,905.7, 8.2%; Iowa
1,476.3, 1,593.3, 7.9%; New Jersey 3,891.5, 4,195.7, 7.8%; Pennsylvania 5,605.8, 6,018.5, 7.4%; Alabama 1,901.9, 2,040.5,
7.3%; Mississippi 1,096.2, 1,169.5, 6.7%; Kansas 1,341.4,1,430.3, 6.6%; Maine 595.5, 628.3, 5.5%; Vermont 296.6, 312.9, 5.49%;
Louisiana 1,897.0, 1,986.1, 4.7%; Connecticut 1,624.4, 1,699.6, 4.6%; New Mexico 811.2 , 846.3, 4.3%; Alaska, 320.2, 326.3,
1.9%; Wyoming 286.4, 288.9, 0.9%; West Virginia 749.4, 751.9, 0.3%.
