Job Growth During the Recovery
Linda Levine
Specialist in Labor Economics
May 10, 2012
Congressional Research Service
7-5700
www.crs.gov
R41434
CRS Report for Congress
Pr
epared for Members and Committees of Congress

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Job Growth During the Recovery

Summary
Congress in recent years passed a number of bills intended in part to jump-start a recovery in the
labor market from the recession that began in December 2007. Members of the 112th Congress are
interested in the labor market’s response to these measures to help them decide how well the
legislation has worked and whether additional job-creation legislation may be warranted in light
of the pace and composition of job growth since the recession’s end in June 2009. Accordingly,
employment data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics is analyzed in this report from
December 2007 to June 2009 (the recession), from June 2009 to April 2012 (the recovery through
the latest month for which data were available at the time of the report’s preparation), and from
December 2007 to April 2012.
A “jobless recovery” prevailed across firms in the private nonfarm sector until March 2010. That
is to say, the number of private-sector jobs generally continued to fall until nine months into the
recovery. The recovery was jobless until October 2010, 16 months into the recovery, across all
employers in the public and private sectors of the nonfarm economy. At that point, net job growth
in the overall economy began not because government employment started to rise but because it
fell more slowly while private-sector employment continued to grow. Given the pace of job
growth during the recovery, a few more years will likely elapse before the approximately 7.5
million jobs lost during the recession are recouped.
The two industries hardest hit by the recession—manufacturing and construction—have been
recovering at very different rates. Manufacturing employment surpassed its level at the
recession’s end by May 2011. In contrast, the construction industry in April 2012 was 450,000
jobs below its employment level in June 2009. Some of the states with the most depressed
housing markets as well as manufacturing-dependent states have experienced large job losses
(Arizona, California, Florida, Indiana, Michigan, Nevada, and Ohio).
During the recession, women lost relatively fewer jobs than men in part because the construction
and manufacturing industries predominantly employ men. During the recovery, women gained
relatively fewer jobs than men in part because women are a substantial presence in the
occupations (e.g., teachers) that account for much of the local and state government workforces.
The oldest and youngest workers have fared quite differently over the past few years. Workers
aged 55 and older enjoyed job growth during the recession and recovery. The youngest age group
(16-19-year olds) experienced the largest percentage declines in employment during the recession
and recovery.
The employment of Hispanic workers returned fairly quickly to its level at the recession’s start,
despite the ethnic group’s concentration in the hard-hit construction industry. Hispanic
employment also is concentrated in the leisure and hospitality industry group, which by early
2012 had recouped all its job losses.
The only education group to have similarly regained all its lost jobs are workers with at least a
bachelor’s degree. Employment among the most educated group of workers decreased very little
during the recession and has increased greatly during the recovery.

Congressional Research Service

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Job Growth During the Recovery

Contents
Slow Job Growth Overall, Led by the Private Sector...................................................................... 1
Industry Characteristics of Job Loss and Gain ................................................................................ 6
Manufacturing and Construction............................................................................................... 6
Private-Service Sector Industries............................................................................................... 7
Government ............................................................................................................................... 8
Individual Characteristics of Job Loss and Gain ............................................................................. 9

Figures
Figure 1. Employment Trend During the December 2007-June 2009 Recession
and Subsequent Recovery............................................................................................................. 3

Tables
Table 1. Employment Change During the 2007-2009 Recession and the Ensuing
Recovery, by Industry................................................................................................................... 5
Table 2. Employment Change During the 2007-2009 Recession and the Ensuing
Recovery, by Gender, Age, Race, Ethnicity, and Educational Attainment ................................. 11

Contacts
Author Contact Information........................................................................................................... 12

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Job Growth During the Recovery

ongress passed several bills meant in part to promote and accelerate a recovery in the
labor market from the Great (2007-2009) Recession. One of the bills, the American
C Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA; P.L. 111-5), required the Council of
Economic Advisers and executive branch agencies to estimate the number of jobs dependent on
some or all of the act’s provisions. But, the methodologies they have used to estimate the number
of jobs created or maintained have been criticized.
ARRA was not the only job creation bill enacted into law in recent years, however.1 Congress did
not include a requirement to estimate job growth associated with the Hiring Incentives to Restore
Employment (HIRE) Act of 2010 (P.L. 111-147), for example.
Members of the 112th Congress nonetheless remain interested in the labor market’s response to
these measures to help them decide how well the legislation has worked and whether additional
job creation as well as retraining legislation may be warranted in light of the pace and
composition of job growth during the ongoing recovery. This report provides a snapshot of the
current situation in the labor market to better inform policymakers with regard to further assisting
the unemployed, such as workers laid off from industries that may have permanently downsized
employment (e.g., construction).
One way to assess the extent and nature of the recovery in the labor market is to compare
employment data from the recession’s end in June 2009 (i.e., the trough of the business cycle)
with more recent data gathered in surveys that the government regularly conducts. Accordingly,
to determine the extent of job growth thus far in the recovery, this report examines the number of
jobs from the trough of the business cycle to April 2012 (the latest month for which data were
available at the time of the report’s preparation). To provide historical context, the timing and
strength of job growth during the current recovery is compared with the prior 10 recoveries. Data
for April 2012 are compared with December 2007, as well, to discern how close the number of
jobs has come to its level at the recession’s onset (i.e., the peak of the business cycle). Lastly,
employment data by job and individual characteristics for December 2007, June 2009, and April
2012 are analyzed to ascertain how different sectors and demographic groups have fared during
the recession and recovery.
Slow Job Growth Overall, Led by the Private Sector
The Business Cycle Dating Committee at the National Bureau of Economic Research announced
that the 11th recession of the postwar period ended in June 2009, but job growth typically does not
commence until a recovery has been underway for some time.2 Initially, some had hoped that the
deep 2007-2009 recession would not be followed by a “jobless recovery” such as occurred after
the immediately preceding recessions in 1990-1991 and 2001, when employers kept shedding
jobs for a very long time after their end. The hope was instead for a quick and strong rebound
such as occurred after the severe recessions of 1973-1975 and 1981-1982. Neither these nor the
other U.S. recessions of the postwar period were precipitated by a financial crisis, however. The

1 For information of the legislation, see CRS Report R41578, Unemployment: Issues in the 112th Congress, by Jane G.
Gravelle, Thomas L. Hungerford, and Linda Levine.
2 CRS Report R40798, Unemployment and Employment Trends Before and After the End of Recessions, by Linda
Levine.
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Job Growth During the Recovery

evidence from other countries that experienced recessions associated with financial crises instead
suggests a slow recovery for the United States, and as discussed below, this has been the reality.3
A jobless recovery prevailed until October 2010, 16 months into the recovery, across all
employers in the nonfarm economy. At that point, net job growth began not because government
employment started to rise but because it fell more slowly while private-sector employment
continued to grow. As shown in Figure 1, the number of jobs on all employers’ payrolls fell
between June 2009 and March 2010. After briefly rising, it resumed declining through September
2010. Job growth during the first half of 2010 was fueled in part by the Census Bureau’s
temporarily hiring workers to help conduct the decennial count of the U.S. population. More
recently, declining employment has occurred at state and local governments due to budget
difficulties. (Additional discussion of employment trends in government and other industries
appears later in the report.)
Although aggregate employment began to rise after September 2010, the monthly increase in jobs
has been too small to have had much of an effect on the U.S. unemployment rate. A commonly
cited rule-of-thumb is that in order to keep pace with population growth a net increase of roughly
125,000 jobs per month is needed to keep the unemployment rate unchanged.4 In 2011, about
150,000 net jobs per month were added on average, and in the first four months of 2012, an
average of about 200,000 private- and public-sector jobs were added each month.
A jobless recovery prevailed across firms in the private-nonfarm sector until March 2010. As
shown in Figure 1, sustained job growth did not begin until nine months from the latest
recession’s end in June 2009. Despite the number of jobs at private-sector firms in April 2012
being almost 3.1 million above its level at the recovery’s start, the recent pace of job growth at
these employers means a few more years will likely elapse before the almost 7.7 million private-
sector jobs lost during the Great Recession are recouped.
Employment rebounded at firms in the private sector more quickly during all but two of the prior
10 recoveries of the postwar period. As noted above, private-sector employment began to steadily
rise at nine months into the current recovery. In contrast, employment in the private sector did not
start a sustained increase until 12 months into the recovery from the 1990-1991 recession, and
until 21 months into the recovery from the 2001 recession.
Private-sector employment rebounded more strongly during all but one of the prior 10 recoveries.
As shown in column 7 of Table 1, employment at private-sector firms in April 2012 was 2.9%
above its level at the recovery’s start. In contrast, at a point comparable to April 2012 (34 months
from the 2001 recession’s end), private-sector employment was still lower than at the outset of the
recovery from the 2001 recession.

3 For additional information, see CRS Report R41332, Economic Recovery: Sustaining U.S. Economic Growth in a
Post-Crisis Economy, by Craig K. Elwell.
4 The unemployment rate is affected by the number of unemployed workers (the numerator) and the number of persons
in the labor force (the denominator). The number of persons in the labor force is, in turn, partly related to the size of the
working-age population.
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Job Growth During the Recovery

Figure 1. Employment Trend During the December 2007-June 2009 Recession
and Subsequent Recovery

Source: Created by CRS from establishment survey data of the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
While total nonfarm employment started to steadily rise earlier (12 months) into the recovery
from the 1990-1991 recession compared with the current recovery (16 months), it began to trend
upward much later (22 months) into the recovery from the 2001 recession. As shown in column 7
of Table 1, overall employment in April 2012 was 1.9% above its level at the recovery’s start. In
contrast, at 34 months after the 2001 recession’s end, employment across all employers was only
0.7% higher than at the outset of the recovery. The less sluggish pace of job growth during the
current recovery compared with the recovery from the 2001 recession may be partly related to
differences in the stimulus legislation enacted to mitigate the two recessions.5
The last two columns of Table 1 show how much employment must increase from its level in
April 2012 to recoup all the jobs lost since the beginning of the Great Recession. Total nonfarm
employment in April 2012 was about 5.0 million jobs below its level 52 months earlier at the
recession’s start. There were about 4.6 million fewer jobs at private-sector firms in April 2012
than in December 2007.
In contrast, total and private sector employment at 52 months from the start of all prior postwar
recessions exceeded or more nearly approached their pre-recession levels. For example,
compared with April 2012’s 3.6% shortfall from total nonfarm employment in December 2007,

5 The Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001 (P.L. 107-16) and the Job Growth and Tax Relief
Reconciliation Act of 2003 (P.L. 108-27) were passed to speed the recovery from the 2001 recession by amending the
Internal Revenue Code. For information on the stimulus approaches included in legislation to mitigate the effects of the
2007-2009 recession (e.g., income tax relief, infrastructure spending, assistance to state and local governments), see
CRS Report R41578, Unemployment: Issues in the 112th Congress, by Jane G. Gravelle, Thomas L. Hungerford, and
Linda Levine.
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Job Growth During the Recovery

overall employment at 52 months from the beginning of the 2001 recession was 1.1% below its
level at the recession’s outset. Compared with April 2012’s 4.0% shortfall from private-sector
employment in December 2007, private-sector employment at 52 months from the beginning of
the 2001 recession was 0.5% lower than at the recession’s outset.
Some had looked to the 2001 recession and subsequent jobless recovery, when the rate of increase
in productivity growth also uncharacteristically rose, to gauge how long it might be before all
jobs lost since December 2007 are recouped. The rate of increase in productivity growth usually
does not rise during recessions, but it did so during and for some years after the 2001 recession; it
did so again during and immediately after the 2007-2009 recession. (An increasing productivity
growth rate enables businesses to produce the same amount of goods and services with fewer
workers.) After the annual rate of change in nonfarm business productivity had diminished to a
decade-low of 0.6% in 2006, it measured 2.3% in 2009 and 4.1% in 2010.6 Partly due to similarly
high rates of increase it took 47 months (until February 2005) from the 2001 recession’s start
before all job losses were recouped and 50 months (until May 2005) before private sector job
losses were recouped. However, in November 2011—47 months from the latest recession’s
start—all jobs lost during the 2007-2009 recession had not been recouped. Similarly, by February
2012 (50 months from the latest recession’s start), the private sector had not fully recouped all the
jobs lost during the latest recession. In light of the sharp drop in the rate of productivity growth in
2011 to 0.4%, the slowness of the employment rebound would be surprising but for the 2007-
2009 recession’s association with a financial crisis. The experiences of other countries suggest it
takes longer for economies to fully recover from such recessions compared with recessions
unrelated to financial crises.
Some within the public-policy community also believe that an increase in offshoring of jobs
historically performed in the United States may be an additional factor sapping the strength of job
growth. This perspective arguably contributed to Congress’s support for a Buy America provision
in the ARRA to increase demand for goods manufactured in the United States. Although not
expressly intended to dampen offshoring, a tax provision in the HIRE Act encourages firms to
maintain and expand their U.S. employment as well. However, the widespread nature of worker
displacement during the recession and the fact that the jobs of workers in the especially hard hit
construction industry do not possess characteristics making them vulnerable to offshoring
suggests that offshoring has had a smaller effect than macroeconomic conditions on the pace of
recovery.7


6 U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Productivity and Costs series.
7 For additional information, see CRS Report RL32292, Offshoring (or Offshore Outsourcing) and Job Loss Among
U.S. Workers, by Linda Levine.
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Table 1. Employment Change During the 2007-2009 Recession and the Ensuing Recovery, by Industry
(numbers in thousands)
Employment Change
During the Recession,
During the Recovery,
Since the Recession’s Start,
Number of Jobs
Dec. 2007-June 2009
June 2009-Apr. 2012
Dec. 2007-Apr. 2012
(1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8)
(9)
Industry
Dec. 2007 June 2009 Apr. 2012a
Number Percentage Number Percentage Number Percentage
Al nonfarm industries

137982
130503
132989
-7479
-5.4
2486
1.9
-4993
-3.6
Al private nonfarm industries

115606
107933
111020
-7673
-6.6
3087
2.9
-4586
-4.0
Goods-producing sector
21937
18417
18342
-3520
-16.2
75
-0.4
-595
-16.4
Mining and logging

740
685
837
-55
-7.3
159
22.2
97
13.1
Construction
7490
6007
5558
-1483
-19.8 -449
-7.5
-1932 -25.8
Manufacturing
13743
11725
11947
-2018
-14.6 222 1.9 -1796 -13.1
Private service-providing sector
93633
89516
92678
-4117
-4.4
3162
3.5
-955
-1.0
Wholesale trade

6038
5577
5601
-461
-7.6
24
0.4
-437
-7.2
Retail trade

15571
14527
14749
-1060
-6.7
222
1.5
-822
-5.3
Transportation and warehousing
4548
4228
4338
-320
-7.3
110
2.6
-210
-4.6
Utilities
557 560 563 3 0.7
3 0.5
6 1.1
Information 3024
2794
2628
-230
-7.6
-166
-5.9
-396
-13.1
Financial activities

8224
7749
7719
-475
-5.8
-30
-0.4
-505
-6.1
Professional and business services
18051
16445
17860
-1606
-8.9
1415
8.6
-191
-1.1
Education and health services
18554
19179
20249
625
3.3
1070
5.6
1695
9.1
Leisure and hospitality
13550
13084
13612
-466
-3.4
528
4.0
62
0.5
Other services

5516
5373
5358
-143
-2.5
-15
-0.3
-158
-2.9
Government
22376
22570
21969
194
0.8
-601
-2.7
-407
-1.8
Source: Calculated by CRS from U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ establishment survey data.
Notes: The establishment survey is asked of a sample of nonfarm employers and covers wage and salary workers on their payrol s.
a. Data for April 2012 are preliminary. Initial monthly estimates are revised twice in the immediately succeeding months to incorporate additional information that was
not available at the time of their original publication.
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Job Growth During the Recovery

Industry Characteristics of Job Loss and Gain
Saying that offshoring may have slowed the pace of U.S. job growth is different from saying that
certain industries will not return to their shares of employment at the recession’s outset. Some
suggest that the Great Recession, like the 2001 recession, was accompanied by a substantial
reallocation of labor across sectors as certain industries permanently downsized employment due
to globalization and technological among other innovations. As a result, some of the workers
displaced during the 2007-2009 recession may endure unusually long spells of unemployment
while they search for new jobs in faster-growing industries. Most economists agree, however, that
the majority of displacement during the latest recession is cyclical rather than structural in origin.8
Manufacturing and Construction
As shown in Table 1, the two cyclically sensitive industries that accounted for nearly one of
every two jobs lost during the latest recession have had markedly different experiences during the
recovery. Construction firms cut payrolls by almost 1.5 million jobs, and manufacturers by 2.0
million jobs, out of a total of 7.5 million nonfarm jobs lost between December 2007 and June
2009. (See column 4.) Manufacturing has been recovering much faster than construction.
Manufacturers added 222,000 jobs (a 1.9% increase) during the recovery to date, whereas
construction lost 449,000 jobs (an 7.5% decrease). (See columns 6 and 7.) Nonetheless,
manufacturing would need to gain 1.8 million jobs to return to its employment level at the
recession’s outset. Construction, for its part, would need to gain 1.9 million jobs. (See column 8.)
The bursting of the housing bubble led to those who worked for residential builders and for
specialty trade contractors in residential construction to be the hardest-hit groups within the
construction industry. Employment in residential building construction fell by 263,400 jobs
(29.4%) during the recession and by an additional 32,600 jobs (5.2%) during the recovery thus
far, according to BLS establishment survey data. Similarly, employment at specialty trade
contractors in residential construction fell by 565,000 jobs (26.1%) during the recession and by an
additional 128,100 jobs (8.0%) during the recovery.
Some of the states with the weakest housing markets have experienced comparatively large
cutbacks in employment of the industry’s mostly blue-collar work force. Employment declines in
the construction industry (i.e., residential and nonresidential building construction, heavy and
civil engineering construction, and specialty trades contractors) in Nevada, Arizona, Florida, and
California have been especially steep according to BLS establishment survey data.
Within manufacturing, the problems at General Motors, Chrysler, and motor vehicle parts
suppliers were so grave during the recession that the Bush and Obama Administrations chose to
provide them with financial assistance.9 The industry’s employment has subsequently increased.
After employment at motor vehicle and parts manufacturers fell by 331,400 jobs (34.7%)
between December 2007 and June 2009, it then rose by 139,400 jobs (22.3%) through April

8 For more information, see CRS Report R41785, The Increase in Unemployment Since 2007: Is It Cyclical or
Structural?, by Linda Levine.
9 For more information, see CRS Report R40003, U.S. Motor Vehicle Industry: Federal Financial Assistance and
Restructuring, coordinated by Bill Canis.
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Job Growth During the Recovery

2012.10 Temporary programs enacted by Congress to increase demand for vehicles (e.g., “cash for
clunkers,” P.L. 111-32, enacted in June 2009) likely led automakers and their parts suppliers to
subsequently recall from layoff their predominantly blue-collar workforce to rebuild depleted
inventories.11 Nonetheless, motor vehicle and parts manufacturers employed almost 200,000
fewer workers in April 2012 than at the recession’s start.
Manufacturing-dependent states tend to be especially vulnerable to recessions, a time during
which consumers and businesses usually postpone buying costly long-lasting products in
particular (e.g., household appliances, cars, farm and construction machinery). Manufacturing
industries also are sensitive to weakened global demand and impaired access to credit. More than
1 in 10 employees in Indiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Ohio, and Wisconsin worked for durable
goods manufacturers in 2006, the last full year before the onset of the recession.12 Three of the
five states—Michigan, Indiana, and Ohio—recorded among the largest decreases in nonfarm
employment during the recession (9.8%, 7.2%, and 6.9%, respectively).13
Private-Service Sector Industries
A third industry group that incurred many of the recession’s job losses is professional and
business services. (See Table 1.) More than one-fifth of all jobs lost during the recession were at
firms that provide professional and business services (e.g., accounting, computer, other
professional-technical services, and administrative support services). Temporary help agencies
accounted for one-half of the 1.6 million decrease in employment at professional and business
services providers between December 2007 and June 2009.14 Employment rebounded by 1.4
million jobs at professional and business services providers thus far into the recovery. This was
due in large part to a 740,700 job gain at temporary help agencies. When companies are unsure of
a recovery’s robustness they typically prefer to temporarily hire employees from the help industry
rather than commit themselves to hiring permanent employees.
Retail trade is another industry group in which many of the recession’s job losses occurred. The
decrease in employment at such firms as automobile dealers, clothing and accessories stores,
department stores, furniture and home furnishings stores, and building material and garden supply
stores accounted for 14% of all jobs lost between December 2007 and June 2009. Retail
employment fell precipitously during the recession (by 1.0 million or 6.8%), as shown in columns
4 and 5 in Table 1. Since the start of the recovery, retailers have added 222,000 jobs (a 1.5%
increase), as shown in columns 6 and 7. Retail employment would have to expand by 822,000
jobs (5.3%) to return to its cyclical peak. (See the last two columns in the table.)

10 Calculated by CRS from BLS establishment survey data.
11 For more information, see CRS Report R40654, Accelerated Vehicle Retirement for Fuel Economy: “Cash for
Clunkers,” by Brent D. Yacobucci and Bill Canis.
12 Calculated by CRS from BLS establishment survey data.
13 The four states previously mentioned as having experienced very large decreases in construction jobs because of
conditions in their housing markets recorded large decreases in total employment as well. Employment in Nevada was
11.6% lower in June 2009 than in December 2007; in Arizona, 9.8% lower; Florida, 8.9% lower; and in California,
7.3% lower.
14 Calculated by CRS from BLS establishment survey data.
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Job Growth During the Recovery

Although the recession was precipitated by a financial crisis and housing market collapse,
the industries that compose the financial activities industry group have been recovering at
very different rates.
• About one of every five job losses in financial activities during the recession
occurred among real estate agents and other employees of the real estate industry.15
Between December 2007 and June 2009, employment declined by 81,100 (5.4%).
Housing conditions continued to be a drag on the economy during the recovery, and
real estate employment fell further through early 2011. By April 2012, it had eked out
a small gain (5,800 jobs or 0.4%) compared with the industry’s employment at the
recovery’s start. Nonetheless, real estate employment at 34 months into the recovery
was 75,300 (5.0%) below its level in December 2007.
• In contrast, employment in the depository credit intermediation industry (e.g.,
commercial banks and savings institutions) in April 2012 had almost returned to its
level at the recession’s outset. Banks cut additional jobs during the recovery, but by
April 2012, bank employment was only 500 jobs (0.03%) below its level in
December 2007.
• Employment at securities brokers, securities and commodity contracts brokers, and
exchanges and other investment firms was 5,100 jobs (5.9%) lower in April 2012
than in June 2009—making it the financial activities industry with the weakest
rebound in employment thus far into the recovery. At 34 months into the recovery,
employment in the industry was down by 55,600 jobs (6.5%) compared with its level
in December 2007.
Government
Government and utilities are the only two industry groups that gained jobs during the recession
but lost jobs during the recovery thus far. The increase in government employment during the
recession occurred at the federal, state, and local levels. Federal employment was somewhat
higher (by 6,000 or 0.2%) in April 2012 than at the recession’s end in June 2009, despite the
Census Bureau letting go workers in 2010 that it had hired to assist the agency while conducting
the decennial population count.16
The decrease in public-sector employment overall since the recovery began has occurred both in
state and especially in local government. State government employment at 34 months into the
recovery was 103,000 (2.0%) below its level in June 2009. Local government joss loss was even
greater since June 2009, at 504,000 (3.5%). Congress was motivated by the budget problems of
state and local governments to include assistance for them in the American Recovery and
Reinvestment Act (P.L. 111-5) enacted in February 2009, and in the Education Jobs and Medicaid
Funding bill (P.L. 111-226) enacted in August 2010. President Obama’s American Jobs Act (H.R.
12 and S. 1549) includes additional assistance, as does the Teachers and First Responders Back to
Work Act (S. 1723) and the Fix America’s Schools Today Act (H.R. 2948/S. 1597).

15 Calculated by CRS from BLS establishment survey data.
16 In the Employment Situation—August 2010, BLS noted that the number of temporary workers hired for Census 2010
peaked in May 2010 at 564,000. By August, their number had fallen to 82,000.
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Job Growth During the Recovery

Individual Characteristics of Job Loss and Gain
This section analyzes the recent changes in employment by individual characteristics shown in
Table 2. The employment trends of women and men over the course of a business cycle differ in
part due to their employment distributions by industry. During the Great Recession, women lost
jobs to a lesser degree than men (2.4% and 5.9%, respectively, as shown in column 5) in part
because men account for the majority (over 7 out of 10 employees) in the recession-wracked
construction and manufacturing industries.17 But, women gained relatively fewer jobs than men
during the recovery (0.4% and 2.1%, respectively, as shown in column 7). In this instance, the
greater presence of women in the occupations that populate local governments in particular (e.g.,
teachers) likely worked against them.18 As noted earlier, employment in local government greatly
decreased during the recovery.
The oldest and youngest workers have had very different experiences in the past several years. As
shown in columns 4 through 7 of Table 2, persons aged 55 and older enjoyed job growth during
the recession and the recovery. The seniority that usually comes with age appears to have worked
to their advantage. In contrast, the employer practice of “last hired, first fired” operated to the
disadvantage of the youngest workers. Employment decreased more precipitously among 16- to
19-year-olds than any other age group. More than one in four teenagers employed at the start of
the recession did not have jobs in April 2012, as shown in the last column of the table.
A larger share of black compared with white workers lost jobs during the recession, but their
situation has reversed during the recovery. As shown in column 5 of Table 2, employment of
black workers fell by 5.9% whereas employment of white workers fell by 4.1% between
December 2007 and June 2009. Since then, the employment of black workers has rebounded
more strongly than that of white workers. (See columns 6 and 7.)
Hispanics, who can be of any race, have experienced comparatively strong job growth during the
recovery (10.8%) after their employment fell by 4.1% during the recession. (See columns 7 and 5,
respectively, in Table 2.) In April 2012, the employment of Hispanics substantially exceeded its
level at the recession’s start, as shown in the table’s last column. Some might regard this as
surprising because, according to BLS data from the Current Population Survey, one in four
workers in the construction industry were of Hispanic origin in 2006 (the last full year before the
recession’s onset). However, Hispanics also comprised over one in five workers in the
accommodation and food services industry in that year. The industry is part of the leisure and
hospitality group which, as of March 2012, had recouped all of the jobs it lost during the
recession.
The lower a worker’s educational attainment, the worse they typically fared between December
2007 and April 2012. As shown in the last column of Table 2, employment over the 52-month
period decreased by 12.1% among workers without a high school diploma, 8.1% among those
with a high school diploma, and 1.9% among those with some college or an associate’s degree. In

17 According to data from the BLS establishment survey, women comprised just 28.7% of employment across all
manufacturing industries and just 20.4% of employment in the residential building construction industry in 2006, the
last full year before the latest recession began.
18 According to data from the BLS establishment survey, women comprised 59.3% of employment in local government
overall and 68.3% of employment in local government’s education function in 2006, the last full year before the latest
recession began.
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Job Growth During the Recovery

contrast, employment among workers with a bachelor’s or advanced diploma has for quite some
time exceeded its level at the recession’s outset. The only other educational group that has
experienced job growth during the recovery is workers with some college or an associate degree,
but the group’s employment in April 2012 remained below its level at the recession’s outset. (See
columns 6 through 9.)
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Table 2. Employment Change During the 2007-2009 Recession and the Ensuing Recovery,
by Gender, Age, Race, Ethnicity, and Educational Attainment
(numbers in thousands)
Employment Change
During the Recession, During the Recovery,
Since the Recession’s Start,
Number of Employed Persons
Dec. 2007-June 2009
June 2009-Apr. 2012
Dec. 2007-Apr. 2012
(1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (9)
Characteristic
Dec. 2007 June 2009 Apr. 2012
# % # % #
%
Gender
Men 78307
73692
75256
-4615
-5.9
1564
2.1
-3051
-3.9
Women 67967
66312
66609
-1655
-2.4
297
0.4
-1358
-2.0
Age
16-19 5853
4952
4321
-901
-15.4
-631
-12.7
-1532
-26.2
20-24 13747
12753
13329
-994
-7.2
576
4.5
-418
-3.0
25-34 31616
30017
30724
-1599
-5.1
707
2.4
-892
-2.8
35-44 34085
31693
30539
-2392
-7.0
-1154
-3.6
-3546
-10.4
45-54 34760
33554
32866
-1206
-3.5
-688
-2.1
-1894
-5.4
55 and older
26243
27105
30038
862
3.3
2933
10.8
3795
14.5
Race or ethnicity
White 120003
115109
114355
-4894
-4.1
-754
-0.7
-5648
-4.7
Black 15999
15053
15891
-946
-5.9
838
5.6
-108
-0.7
Hispanic 20473
19631
21755
-842
-4.1
2124
10.8
1282
6.3
Educational attainment
Less than high school
11319
10403
9947
-916
-8.1
-456
-4.4
-1372
-12.1
High school or equivalent
36820
34697
33834
-2123
-5.8
-863
-2.5
-2986
-8.1
Some col ege/AA
34992
33848
34344
-1144
-3.3
496
1.5
- 648
-1.9
Bachelor’s or advanced degree
43597
43344
46062
-253
-0.6
2178
6.2
2465
5.7
Source: Created by CRS from U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ data from the Current Population Survey.
Notes: The survey of households provides data for al workers (including the self-employed, private household workers, and unpaid family workers) in all sectors of the
economy (i.e., farm and nonfarm) aged 16 and older, except for educational attainment data which relate to workers aged 25 and older.
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Job Growth During the Recovery


Author Contact Information

Linda Levine

Specialist in Labor Economics
llevine@crs.loc.gov, 7-7756


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